


Lurk In The Shadows

by Darkcat18



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beauty and the Beast Fusion, Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beauty and the Beast AU, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Brief separation, Controlling Kylo Ren, Dubious Consent, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Exhibitionism, F/M, Faeries are bastards, Fic is completely written, Fluff, Forced Starvation, Graphic Depiction of Near Drowning, Happily Ever After, Hate to Love, How did this get so fluffy?, Hux causes harm to Rey, Kidnapping, Kylo does not take kindly to this, Kylo gets his revenge, Kylo has a Dark Past, Kylo is Fae, Kylo is not the cause of the near drowning, Literally controlling her movements at one point, Manipulation, Mention of Death, Misogyny, Rey is human, Shades of the Folk of the Air series, Slow Burn, Sort Of, author is a big fan of Sarah J Maas, brief angst, but technically they're having sex out in the open, but that is part of the manipulation, is murder a love language?, it doesn't last long, it's a fairly graphic revenge, just one chapter, mention of child abandonment in the past, no one can actually see or hear them, non-graphic depiction of torture, shades of the ACOTAR series, sigh I guess I should add in those tags too, snoke is a bastard, very brief mentions of tinder hookups in the past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:28:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 45,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27863062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkcat18/pseuds/Darkcat18
Summary: Deep in Faerie lies a castle surrounded by a wall of thorns. Inside you'll find a cursed being, terrifying to behold yet impossible to resist.Rey has recently moved to Ireland for a change of scenery. She knows enough of the Irish faery lore to recognize a faery ring when she sees one. She also knows you never step in one. Unfortunately for her, faeries are known for their tricks and Rey finds herself held captive by Kylo, a Fae that looks more like a demon. She is told only she has the power to break Kylo's curse. The only problem is no one will tell her how.Updates on Mondays
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 321
Kudos: 265
Collections: Ijustfellintothissendhelp





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and thanks for clicking. :) Just a quick reminder to peruse the tags if you have triggers or dark tropes you don't like. Some of the tags, such as kidnapping, are inherent to the Beauty and the Beast trope, but others are not. I would classify this as darkfic, though perhaps on the lighter end of the darkfic spectrum. I tried to keep a running list of tags to add as I wrote it, but please let me know if you feel a tag is missing. 
> 
> The fic is completely finished already, so I'll just be updating twice a week on Monday and Thursday to give me time to edit properly. Many thanks to ksco and shestoolazytologin for their help as alpha/beta readers.
> 
> I hope you enjoy :)

_... fairies lurk in the shadows, their intentions far from honorable._

_-Jeaniene Frost_

* * *

I step outside, breathing deeply and exhaling the lingering scent of motor oil from my nostrils. 

Taking a walk during my break is my favorite part of the day. Working for Plutt isn’t a walk in the park. He overworks and under pays me, but he doesn’t mind if I take the occasional long lunch so long as I make up the time elsewhere and get my work done.

Plutt’s garage backs up to a forest, complete with a walking trail, making my daily walk easy. I start down the path through the sparsely spaced trees, enjoying the cool, damp air on my skin and the weak light filtering through the trees. 

I’ve only lived in Ireland for about four months, but I love it. It’s just the sort of change I needed. Until I moved here, I had never been outside of England. I chose Ireland because at least I didn’t have to learn a new language. 

I come to a fork in the path and freeze, looking each direction. I’ve walked this path before, but have never seen a fork. Right? I frown. I am positive there wasn’t a fork in this path yesterday.

After a moment I shrug, curiosity piqued, and step onto this new path. I’m hardly in danger of getting lost. The woods in Ireland are all still young, part of the reforestation project in the 90’s, so the trees are all thin and spread sparsely. If I looked behind me, I could still make out part of Plutt’s garage. 

As I walk, however, the trees get both larger and closer together. My steps slow as I frown around me. I’m sure I read somewhere that all this area’s forests were new. 

I look up at the thick canopy overhead. The trees are all covered in a thick layer of moss on their north side, and many have mushrooms growing out of the trunks. The foliage has become so dense that I’m at the edge of a copse of trees before I realize that the path has taken me here. 

I step through, craning my neck to stare at the trees, which form a perfect circle. 

There is an odd pull somewhere in the back of my mind telling me to look down. I do and then shuffle back a step. My shoes are nearly touching a mushroom, red with white spots. 

I think those are magic mushrooms. I laugh to myself but stop when my gaze follows the line of mushrooms and I realize that these red and white mushrooms are forming a circle.

A faery ring. 

Despite a pull to step into the ring, I take another step back. I’ve never been superstitious, but I know the stories about faery rings. There are different interpretations of the ring, but one is that if you step inside, faeries will kidnap you.

I laugh nervously as I take yet another step back, berating myself for believing the superstitions, but unable to ignore the chills running down my spine. Goosebumps break out everywhere as I stare at the perfect ring of mushrooms. 

I trip over a tree root, landing flat on my ass with a curse.

I shake my head as I stand up, brushing the dirt off my butt. Ignoring the foreboding pulsing as I turn my back on the faery ring, I stride out of the copse of trees and hurry back to Plutt’s.

The further away I get, the stronger the pull to go back becomes.

* * *

I sit in my favorite chair that evening and stare at nothing, my mind filled with the ring of red and white mushrooms as I sip my tea. 

I grimace as the tepid liquid hits my throat. I can never drink tea fast enough, always getting lost in my thoughts as it cools. I down the entire rest of the cup in one go. I can’t let it go to waste, but I can’t enjoy it cold either. 

I walk to my kitchen—really more of a kitchenette—to rinse the cup. 

Another perk of working for Plutt is he is letting me live above his business. The space is really more of an attic space, but he installed a sink and tiny fridge on one end and a small, but functional, bathroom. I’m pretty sure Plutt is over charging me for it, but I’ve made it homey enough, and you can’t beat the commute. 

I finish cleaning the cup and set it down, glancing out the window into the night. 

I freeze, squinting into the darkness as a pale blue-green light blinks at the edge of the woods. I look behind me, making sure that it’s not just a reflection, but there is no blinking blue-green light in my little loft. 

I look back out the window. The pull that had faded to an annoying persistence in the back of my mind intensifies as I look at the blinking light. It reminds me of a will-o-the-wisp.

I’ve heard of will-o-the-wisps, of course, but I know they’re usually caused by chemical reactions over bogs and there is no bog here. 

The longer I stare, the stronger the desire to go to the light becomes. It feels like a string is attached to my chest, yanking me towards the light. 

I shake my head and walk over to my chair, picking up a half-read book. I sit in the chair, curling my feet under me, and open the book. 

My mind wanders, my eyes traveling over the lines of text absorbing nothing I can’t seem to get the image of the wisp out my head. It’s as if it’s blinking in my mind’s eye as I try to read, the blue-green light taking up my entire field of vision. 

I blink rapidly, shaking my head again, trying to clear it, and return to the page of my book. It’s actually an excellent story, based on what I’ve already read, but I can’t concentrate. 

Once more I read without comprehending, a blinking blue-green light taking up all my focus. After several minutes of trying to read and reread the same page, I close the book with snap.

I can’t think of anything else, so I might as well at least just go look at the light. Sighing, I walk to my door, slipping on shoes and pulling on my wool cardigan over my pajama shorts and t-shirt. 

I shiver as the cool night air hits my skin, pulling my cardigan closer and folding my arms. 

I see the blinking blue-green light as I turn around from locking my door, pocketing my key. 

I press my lips together. Both the foreboding and pull to the light return with a vengeance. I rub a hand against my chest, my footsteps crunching over the dirt and gravel as I walk to the edge of the wood. 

I frown as I get closer to the forest. The light seems both closer and further away. I don’t see it moving and yet as I get to the edge of the wood, I’m still far from it. I continue walking, following the light onto the walking path. 

My mind races as I try to figure out what is happening. The blinking light meets the description of a will-o-the-wisp to a T, but there isn’t anything in the woods to cause the phenomenon. Then there’s the fact that no matter how fast or slow I walk, the light never seems to get closer or further away, blinking on and off in a steady pattern. 

I don’t really pay attention to where it’s leading me, too caught up in figuring out what I’m following. 

I try to recall all the superstitions surrounding will-o-the-wisps, whether they’re a good or bad sign, but I don’t really know too much about the superstitions surrounding them. 

Each step brings me closer to it. After I walk for I don’t even know how long, the light finally stops moving. The color is mesmerizing, almost shimmering from blue to green and back again with each flicker. The pull in the back of my mind gets stronger, pulling me closer and overpowering the foreboding feeling telling me to turn and run away. 

As I get closer to the light, I frown, blinking several times to make sure it’s not my eyes playing tricks on me. What I thought was merely a flickering light has eyes, a nose, a face. Thoughts of Tinkerbell come to mind as I see the tiny body and the barely visible wings. 

I must be hallucinating. Maybe I accidentally touched those magic mushrooms earlier today. 

My eyes widen and I freeze as the foreboding comes pounding through my head, my heart matching its beat. The little flickering creature grins and I see sharp pointed teeth. It points down.

Swallowing, I look down.

Just as I realize I’ve stepped into the circle of magic mushrooms, everything goes black.

* * *

My eyes snap open, and I sit up, gasping. My brain feels foggy as I try to recall where I am and how I got here. 

The will-o-the-wisp. 

… or whatever it was. The image of a sharp-toothed faery-looking thing comes to mind and I shudder. 

Trickling water catches my attention and I glance around my surroundings. 

The floor is smooth, gray stone. There’s a small crack, no more than thirty centimeters wide, running the length of the floor. It looks like a tiny stream. I stand to get a closer look, peering into the stream of water. I can’t see the bottom, which is both weird and unnerving since the water looks crystal clear. 

I look behind me at what I was lying on and see a stone slab. On top of it is something that looks like a duvet cover stuffed with feathers or leaves. It reminds me of old mattresses stuffed with hay or down feathers I’ve read about in books. 

My gaze travels up from the bed. I turn in a circle as I realize I’m in a cage of some sort. There are bars on all four sides as well as a net high above. 

I walk across from the bed, reaching out to examine the bar. It looks like a vine or branch. As I’m reaching out to touch it, I hear a sound.

Glancing up I gasp, tripping over my own feet as I back away from the thing coming out of the shadows. 

It—he?—steps into a beam of light filtering down from somewhere above us. He has the shape of a man, but looks nothing like a human. 

Sharp-pointed horns grow out of his head, spiraling upwards like a gazelle. I look down, expecting to see the cloven hooves of a demon, but relieved when I see human legs. His eyes are glowing yellow and remind me of a snake.

He watches me, stepping closer and grinning at my obvious fear. I can’t stop my eyes from widening at the sharply pointed teeth glinting in the light at me. 

I swallow hard as enormous leathery bat wings into view. They’re closed, but they look as if they would fill the entire span of my cell, several meters in width. 

“Wh-who are you?” I ask. 

His grin widens, and another chill runs down my spine.

“You may call me Kylo.”

I gulp, taking another step back as he nears the bars of my cell.

“What am I doing here?”

His hair, black and curling around his shoulders, catches the weak light as he moves.

“You’re my guest,” he says.

A shudder runs down my spine.

“How did I get here?”

He looks away. “You stepped into the faery ring.”

My heart is beating so hard I can hear it in my ears. 

“I want to go home.”

He turns, clasping his hands in front of him and pacing to one end of the cell. I glance around but see nothing but darkness on all four sides.

“I’m afraid that’s impossible.”

I stare at him. “Impossible?”

He turns, slowly pacing back to the other side, his wings a hairsbreadth from hitting the bars as he walks.

“You stepped into the ring, therefore you are bound to me.”

I exhale sharply, my scalp prickling. “ _Bound_ to you?”

I shake my head. My mind races as I try to recall everything I’ve read about faery rings. “No. That’s not what the stories say.”

He turns, raising his eyebrows. “Stories.”

His snake-like eyes dilate as he looks at me and I freeze, feeling like prey caught in the gaze of a predator.

“What stories?” he asks.

“Stories about f-faeries.” I trip over the word, unsure that that’s what he really is. He looks more like a demon than a faery.

He cocks his head but says nothing, so I continue rambling.

“When you get caught in a faery ring, the faery is supposed to make you dance until you die or cause you bad luck for the rest of your life. None of the stories say you get transported anywhere.”

He watches me for a moment before turning and continuing his pacing in front of the cage.

I watch him, feeling cold as a draft filters through the space. I pull my cardigan, wrapping my arms around myself and wishing I had put on proper trousers before wandering outside.

I jump when Kylo speaks again.

“I would say that being trapped in a cage is bad luck.”

I blink at him, surprised. He looks over at me.

“Wouldn’t you?”

I nod slowly, afraid to disagree with him. “Yes.”

He turns toward me and the pierce of his predatory gaze makes me shudder again. “Then I would say that the faery ring, as you call it, worked exactly as the stories said it would.”

“Where am I?” I ask again, unable to keep the note of panic out of my voice.

His jaw ticks, annoyance flitting through his eyes. “I told you. You’re my guest.”

“For how long?”

The corners of his mouth tick upwards, but he doesn’t answer. 

My heart plummets.

Fuck.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments and kudos. :) I added a couple more tags that I realized I forgot when compiling the list the first time, because of course even when I'm keeping a list, I *still* manage to forget some. LOL

“What do you want with me?” 

My voice is shaky. I feel like I’ve been doused in cold water from head to toe. 

He lifts his chin, his jaw ticking again. “For now? Dinner.”

I open my mouth to ask  _ what _ , but before I can, he raises his hand and snaps his fingers. In the blink of an eye I’m no longer in my cell. I squeak at the sudden change of scenery.

Glancing around, it looks like I’m in some sort of medieval castle. Gray stone walls surround us, stretching up at least two stories high. Candles burn in an enormous chandelier above a long, wooden table. I’m seated at one end with Kylo at the other end.

The scraping of utensils against a plate brings my gaze back to Kylo. He’s cutting a piece of meat, watching me with his inhuman eyes. I quickly look away, my heart beating so fast I can hear it in my ears. I blink a few times before I realize there is a plate in front of me filled with a mouth-watering steak dinner. 

I reach towards the fork and knife, but pause when I recall another warning about the fae. Never eat the food. I can’t quite remember why, what will happen to you, but I slowly shove the plate away, not willing to find out. 

“Not hungry?” Kylo asks, humor in his eyes, as if he knows why I’m pushing the plate away. 

I don’t answer. Instead, I push away from the table and try to stand. 

It’s only then that I realize I’m tied to the chair. Thick vines are circling over my legs and around my torso, preventing me from leaving.

I look up and see Kylo smirking at me.

“Let me go.” I try to make my voice commanding, but it comes out hoarse instead. 

“I’m afraid not.” 

Kylo goes back to cutting his meat, as if he’s not holding me prisoner at the other end of the table. 

My heart is still pounding, fear making it difficult not to lose my shit. 

“Please,” I grind out. 

He ignores me. 

I swallow, but my throat feels like sandpaper, and I end up coughing instead. 

Kylo acts as if nothing is amiss as I try to pry my fingers underneath the vines trapping me. They aren’t cutting off circulation—I didn’t even notice them until I tried getting up—but it’s as if they’re welded to my skin. It doesn’t matter how much I push down on my skin or wiggle, the vines don’t budge.

I look up and find Kylo watching me, resting his chin on the palm of his hand, his index finger resting on the side of his face. I shiver when he grins, his razor-sharp teeth glinting in the candlelight and cruelness behind his eyes.

“Why are you keeping me here?”

He ignores me.

Panic bubbles up my throat.

“Please, just let me go. Tell me what to do to be free and I’ll do it.”

I’m hoping it’s nothing sexual, but given his demonic appearance and the dark look in his eyes, I’m not holding my breath. 

“I’m afraid I can’t.”

I’m breathing fast now, struggling in my chair. “Why not?”

“Because I can’t.”

“Please,” I beg, my voice getting higher. “I’ll do anything.”

Kylo leans forward, looking me dead in the eye. “I can’t tell you.”

I snap my mouth closed when I realize what he’s saying. I glance around unseeing as my brain snaps into overdrive, remembering yet another bit of faerie lore. 

Faeries can’t lie. The Fae are cunning but truthful. They can weave their words but cannot outright lie. 

“You can’t tell me,” I repeat slowly.

Kylo rolls his eyes, sitting back. “Finally.”

“Let me go.” 

I say the words almost like a question, testing the waters. 

Kylo cocks his head. “I can’t.”

I close my eyes, my chest heaving as panic sets in. He can’t tell me how to escape and he can’t let me go. 

What am I doing here? 

I look up, opening my mouth to say I don’t even know what—probably to plead—but he sighs. “I’m bored.”

Before I know what’s happening, he snaps his fingers and I find myself back in my cell.

Alone.

I walk cautiously to the bars, unsure what lies in the dark, but see nothing but blackness. Not even a hint of a wall. I wonder whether I’m in a tower or underground. Probably a dungeon.

Squinting into the darkness, I walk along the perimeter of the small space, but nothing but black all the way around. 

Looking closer at the bars of my cage, I think they might be bamboo. I try to shake them but they are just as strong and immovable as the vines that trapped me at dinner. 

I glance around the rest of my space. 

The cage isn’t exactly small. It has the bed on one side and something that might be a toilet along another wall. 

Those are the only two pieces of furniture in the space. 

I glance down at the little stone creek running through the space. At least I won’t have to die of thirst, though of course there’s still the issue of not eating or drinking anything in Faerie. 

I frown, only now realizing that I can see my surroundings when everything outside my cage is completely black.

I look up and gasp, my mouth falling open. The net high above my head is glowing. I squint, trying to figure out what the light source is. The pale blue light is shimmering, almost like it’s moving. 

Walking over to my bed, I step up to get a closer look. I nearly fall off when I realize that the flickering, moving light source is coming from hundreds of butterflies, clinging to the top of my cage. There are so many of them that they blend together to form a continuous blue light across the net. 

I jump off the bed, shuddering and glancing up every few seconds to make sure one of them hasn’t flown down on top of me. I hate bugs. All bugs. I don’t care if butterflies are pretty. They’re a bug and I hate them. I’m never going to sleep knowing there are hundreds of them literally hanging over my head. 

I step down to the floor, still glancing up every few moments. I sit on the bed, wondering what I’m going to do to pass the time while I’m stuck here. I wish I had my phone. 

Despite my overall anxiousness at being kidnapped by a faerie-demon thing, my eyes start to droop. It was already night when I left and who knows how long it’s been since I got here. It feels like hours, even though all I’ve done is ask some questions and have dinner.

Laying on my back, I stare at the god-awful butterfly ceiling. I try to keep my eyes open, worried one will fly and land on me, but it’s like I’ve been hit with a sleep spell. Before I can even begin to wonder about it, I’m fast asleep.

* * *

I wake up, not as I normally do—slowly becoming aware of my surroundings—but all at once. I’m usually groggy when I first wake up, needing a shower and a cup of tea before the fog of sleep leaves. 

Not this time. 

This time I open my eyes and am completely alert. 

I stare at the now butterfly-free ceiling of my cage. Unlike the bars of my cage, they look like I could snap them if I chose. Looking beyond the bamboo bars, I realize that in the dim light of day I can see the sort of place I’m being kept in. It appears to be a large tower made of stone like the dining room the night before. 

Glancing around, I see that my cage is the only thing in here and wonder why Kylo bothered with the cage at all. I can’t even see a door. 

“You look dreadful.”

I gasp, whirling around to find Kylo staring at me, a sneer on his face. 

I cross my arms, feeling both irritated and self-conscious. 

“Yes, well, I basically slept on a stone slab after being kidnapped in my pajamas. Looking pretty isn’t really high up on my list of priorities.”

Kylo narrows his eyes. His jaw ticks. I watch as his mouth moves like he’s chewing on words—or having an internal debate. He exhales sharply from his nose and looks away. 

“I trust you slept well?”

I laugh once, both surprised and annoyed by the question. “I’m being held against my will. What do you think?”

“This again.” He sneers at me, his sharp teeth looking even more terrifying in the daylight. 

I ignore the voice in my head telling me to keep as much distance as possible between us and step closer to the bars of the cage. I take a deep breath, squaring my shoulders and lifting my chin. Just because I’m terrified doesn’t mean I need to let him know that. Plus he obviously loves watching me squirm. 

“Please, is there any way you can let me know how to get out of here?”

Kylo snaps his fingers and I’m thrown backward as the bars of my cage shrink in every direction.

I stare at him with my mouth open.

He watches me with a smirk, eyebrows raised. “Each time you ask me that question or any variant of it, I’ll shrink your cage.” 

I stand up, equal parts fuming and terrified. I don’t like being confined. I’m not exactly claustrophobic, but the thought of this miserable cage getting smaller sends my heart rate into overdrive. 

“What do you want with me?” 

He snaps his fingers, and the cage shrinks again. 

“I didn’t ask about leaving,” I snap.

He blinks once, looking bored, and then starts pacing in front of my cage like he did the night before. “My rules are simple. You are not to question what or why you are here. If you do, your cage will shrink. You will do what I tell you and when. If you do not, your cage will shrink.”

He stopped walking, turning his head to look at me. “I have no problem keeping you confined to a box you cannot stand up in.”

I want to ask why he’s doing this, but I’m too scared of his threats. I grind my teeth together as he smirks, a knowing look in his freakish eyes. 

He snaps his fingers and I find myself back at the dining table, trapped once more with vines around my legs and torso.

Kylo picks up his fork and starts eating without so much as looking in my direction. 

I look down at the plate in front of me, my mouth watering at the eggs, bacon, and toast in front of me. I’m much hungrier this morning than I was the night before, but I remind myself that I can’t eat the food. 

A goblet filled with juice reminds me I have had nothing to drink since the tea before I arrived the night before. 

This could be a problem. I can’t go very long without water. A few days at most. I’m not sure I can escape in that time. Then there’s the minor issue of how to get away from Faerie if I do escape. 

“Why aren’t you eating?”

I look up. Kylo watches me with his chin resting on his hand. He looks bored. In fact, the only emotions I’ve seen are apathy, irritation, and revulsion… and occasionally humor at my expense. 

It makes little sense why he would kidnap me. Why set the faery ring when he is obviously so repulsed by the human it traps? Unless it’s just me he doesn’t like. 

Better not go down that road. 

I try to swallow, realizing he’s still waiting for an answer, but my throat is still dry. 

I cough, trying to clear it, but my voice still comes out raspy. “I can’t eat anything here.”

Kylo raises an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

I take a breath, trying to keep the fear and annoyance out of my voice. “Because humans can’t eat or drink anything in Faerie.” 

I just barely manage to leave the word “obviously” off my sentence. I don’t want to give him a reason to shrink my cage again. 

He barks a laugh. “Is that what the stories say?”

My nostrils flare, finding it hard to keep my irritation reined in.

“Yes.”

He picked up a napkin, dabbing the corners of his mouth. “Well, it’s untrue.”

I narrow my eyes. “The stories also say you can’t lie.”

He nods, smirking, and the look in his eyes makes me uneasy. “Yes. That part is unfortunately true.”

I try to figure out if he’s telling the truth. He could be lying about both things, but I don’t know how to test it. I know there’s some riddle about two speaking doors but can’t remember the question you ask to figure out which door is the liar. 

“Can’t or dont?” 

This won’t really answer my real question, but I’m curious how he’ll respond.

He looks me in the eye. “Can’t.”

I cross my arms, wanting to cross my legs but have to settle for crossing my ankles instead. 

“That’s got to be difficult. What if you don’t like someone?”

He smiled. His pointed teeth are jarring each time I see them. 

“I said we couldn’t lie, but we are masters with words. There are many different sides to the truth.”

I open my mouth to respond, but he speaks again before I can.

“So eat your food. I promise I won’t try to control you through your eggs.”

I stare at him, assessing, playing our entire conversation back through my head, trying to make sure he’s not tricking me, leaving something out.

“Will my food try to control me?”

Kylo rolls his eyes, not answering. “Eat.”

“Answer the question.”

He sighs. “This is tedious.”

He snaps his fingers and I gasp when my hand grabs a piece of toast and jams it into my mouth. I cough as crumbs get caught in my windpipe, the corner of the toast nearly touching the back of my throat. 

I start to panic, trying to move my hand, to pull the toast back, feeling like I’m choking.

“If you would just take a bite, this would go much easier for you.”

It’s hard to close my teeth around the bread while I’m coughing, but I manage to bite off a large piece. Whatever’s controlling my hand lets up, but my jaw chews without me telling it to. My eyes are watering as I cough and chew, inhaling more crumbs every time I breathe. I try to chew faster, but can’t control that either. 

I’m desperate to swallow the food, hoping Kylo will stop controlling my body and I can stop choking. Easier said than done when you’re still coughing. Finally, I swallow and immediately have full control of my body again. 

I cough, spewing crumbs everywhere as I reach for the goblet of juice. I take a drink, washing the rest of my food down, clearing my airway. 

Setting the goblet down, I bend forward, coughing the rest of the crumbs out of my lungs. I look up, tears leaking out of the corner of my eyes. 

Kylo smiles as I glare at him. “All this could have been avoided if you had done what I asked and ate your food.”

He raises his hand and snaps his fingers, malicious glee in his eyes.

“You’ll be happy to know that, as you broke one of the rules I laid out for you, your cage has now shrunk another foot.”


	3. Chapter 3

I glare at Kylo, but keep my mouth shut. It takes all my energy, but I already know he won’t be reasonable. Why would he be, considering he kidnapped me in the first place and refuses to tell me why or how to get away? 

Still, I’m getting panicky at how small my cage is getting. 

He smiles at me, his yellow eyes glittering with a mixture of malice and glee. 

“Now then, can I trust you to eat the rest of your meal or do I need to force feed the entire thing to you?”

I grind my teeth so hard my jaw hurts, but pick up a slice of bacon and bite off a piece. As I chew, I glare at him and blindly reach for a fork to eat my eggs with. When my hand lands on the smooth surface of the table, I look down. There are no utensils. .

“It is extremely tedious watching you eat so slowly,” Kylo says.

I literally bite my tongue to keep my temper in check as I look back up at him. 

“I don’t have a fork,” I say through my teeth.

He raises his eyebrows. “And?”

Taking a deep breath, I try to remember I need to be calm. I can’t give him a reason to punish me again. 

“And I can’t eat eggs without a fork.”

“Of course you can,” he says. “You have hands.”

I stare. “You want me to eat eggs with my hands?”

He shrugs. “Why not?”

“Why do you get a fork?”

“Because your general discomfort amuses me.”

My temper flares. Fine. He wants to watch me eat eggs with my hands? I’ll eat eggs with my hands. 

Looking him in the eye, I pick up a piece of egg, shoving it in my mouth. Before I finish chewing, I shove another piece in. I shove piece after piece of egg into my mouth, hardly blinking, my cheeks bulging. 

I’m slightly mollified by the disgust on his face. Good. I hope he hates me. I hope he stays far away from me. I try not to think about all the other things he could do to me, with his ability to take control of my body. Maybe if I’m repulsive enough, he’ll just let me go. 

Almost as if he could hear my line of thinking (can he actually read my mind?) he says, “You’re repulsive, you know. At best, I would call you homely, but really that’s probably being too nice.”

I gulp down the rest of the eggs, my throat stretching painfully from the too large gulp. 

“You’re one to talk,” I say, my mouth running off before I can stop it. “You look like the devil himself.”

Kylo’s eyes flashed, and he snaps his fingers. I wince, waiting for the vines around me to squeeze or for him to drown me by forcing me to drink the juice, but nothing happens. 

He smiles. “For your insolence, I shrank your cage considerably.”

“What?” I wiggle, trying in vain to get free of my vines. “Why? I didn’t break any of your rules!”

He shrugs. “Because I can.” He sighs. “But I’m bored now.”

He snaps his fingers again, and I fall on my ass in my dramatically shrunken cage. 

I curse, getting to my feet and dusting myself off. 

I look around, equal parts relieved and dismayed. I can still stand and there is room to move around, but the cage is at least half the size it was last night. 

Worst of all, the net that the butterflies hang off of is much closer to the ground. It’s still empty at the moment, but I shudder, hoping they’ll stay away. I’d rather be stuck in the dark than have a bunch of bugs fluttering just above my head. 

Looking around, I decide to spend my time trying to find a way out. The bars of the cage look like they come straight out of the ground, and they go to the top of the tower. I can easily pull apart the net above my head, but that doesn’t help me escape from my cage. 

I walk to the bars and try to shake them. Again, they don’t budge. They are almost thicker than my hands, my fingers hardly able to wrap around them. I kneel down to the ground, confirming that they don’t just touch the ground, but come up through it.

“Shit.”

* * *

I spend the rest of the day either sitting on the bed, trying to think of ways to either cut through the bars, or trying to squeeze between them. I’m fairly thin, but they’re too close together for me to squeeze more than an arm through. 

At one point, I stand on my bed, yanking on the net above my head, hoping if I break the net, the butterflies will stay away. Unfortunately, the net is much stronger than it appears, and no matter how much I pull, they stay secured across the top of the cage. 

My stomach growls as I contemplate how to rip the netting apart. It has to have been several hours since breakfast. It’s probably lunch time. 

I wait for Kylo to either appear or magic me up to the dining table, but he never does. 

Do faeries not eat lunch?

I sigh, adding this to the newly formed list of reasons I hate the fae. 

I’m used to going hungry, as unpleasant a skill as that is, so I lay on my bed and try to recite the words to my favorite movie. 

The minutes tick by at a snail’s pace and my stomach makes its demands known. 

“Keep quiet. If I could feed you, I would,” I mutter, turning onto my back. 

The light is starting to fade and I anxiously await the arrival of the butterflies. 

I gasp, stumbling when my surroundings change and I’m standing instead of lying down.

That is so annoying. 

I jump when a creature starts measuring me. He reminds me of Mr. Tumnus from Narnia, with animal legs—complete with cloven hooves—and a humanoid body. He also has horns coming out of his head, but they’re smaller than Kylo’s, more like a goat. 

He is so much shorter than I am that I wonder how he’ll measure anything above my waist. As if in answer to my question, he floats up and I see that he has small wings on his back. 

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Hmm, quite thin, yes,” he says to himself, either ignoring me or having not heard my question. “And no wings. I’ll have to make adjustments. Perhaps like Hers. Yes. Though quite a bit taller, longer legs.”

“Excuse me!” 

I clap my hands, trying to get his attention. He squeaks when he looks up, as if he forgot I was there.

“Oh. Oh dear me. You startled me.”

“What are you doing?” I ask again. 

He looks down quickly, returning to his measurements, almost as if he’s afraid to look at me. 

“Taking measurements,” he says, fluttering around my waist with the tape measure.

“I can see that.” 

He starts to measure my bust, but I cross my arms. 

He glances up, but looks away again, muttering intelligibly to himself. 

“Why are you measuring me?”

“I can’t. Not allowed.” He sounds as if he’s having a conversation with himself, fluttering around me as I stand there refusing to let him measure my chest. 

“Not allowed? To what? Talk to me? By whom? Kylo?” 

I rattle off my questions as irritation builds in my chest. Of course Kylo would forbid everyone to speak to me. They’d probably tell me how to get away.

“Oh no no no no no,” he replies. “Not Prince Kylo. My orders came from Her.” 

He glances at me and quickly away again, wringing his hands. 

“ _ Prince _ Kylo?” 

My mouth drops open. That demon is a prince? 

“Oh yes,” the faerie says. He looks at me, wringing his hands. “Please. I must finish my work. I mustn’t disappoint Her.”

The off-kilter feeling of discovering the demon who kidnapped me is a prince pokes holes in my irritation, and I feel bad for the thing fluttering around me. He’s clearly worried about consequences if he doesn’t obey. It’s not his fault his…Queen and her spawn are unreasonable. 

I drop my arms. He sighs in relief and resumes fluttering around me, measuring everything, including my neck and head. 

“If Kylo is a prince, then his mother is a Queen, right?” 

I’m hoping maybe I can get the faerie to give me some answers.

“Oh, yes yes yes,” he says, speaking quickly. “Queen Leia of the Seelie.”

I digest that fact for a moment, chewing on my lip as the faerie mutters to himself, hovering just above the floor. 

“Kylo. Does he have any siblings?”

I don’t know why I even ask the question. I don’t care about Kylo’s home life. I should be asking more important questions like “do you know how I can leave this place?” but I wait to hear his answer.

“Siblings?” The faerie flies a little ways away, muttering to himself again. I can’t tell if he’s running numbers in his head or muttering about me. “No. Prince Kylo is all my queen could have.”

I frown, not sure what to do with the information that Kylo’s mother has fertility issues. 

“You’ve mentioned the queen. Queen Leia. Who’s the king?”

I don’t know why it matters, since I plan to get away from here the first chance I get, but my curiosity is piqued. I should have known Kylo was a prince by how entitled he acts. 

“There is no king,” the faerie said. 

“So it’s like England then?” 

The faerie looks up, tilting his head. “What’s England?”

Apparently in his confusion he forgot he’s not supposed to be talking to me. I stare for a moment and then shake my head. 

“Nevermind. Who is Kylo’s father then?”

The faerie pulls a bag out of thin air and begins rolling up his measuring tape. 

“No one knows for sure, though there was a human many years ago who caught the queen’s attention.”

He snaps his head up, eyes wide. “I should not have said that.” He closes his bag. “I must leave.”

“Wait!” I reach out to stop him, but he pops out of sight.

I’m in the middle of sighing when I’m popped away from the room and find myself sitting at the dinner table once again. I don’t have to glance down to know the vines are holding me in place.

“I have legs,” I snap. “There’s no reason to keep snapping me all over the place. It’s annoying.” 

I don’t even bother to moderate my irritation at constantly being popped all over the place as I glare at Kylo.

He’s sitting at the other end of the table, eating a grilled fish. 

“I can’t have you wandering the castle,” he says, his voice flat.

I roll my eyes, but give up responding in favor of stuffing as much food in my face as I can. If I’m only going to eat twice a day, I need to start getting more calories in. 

I pay no attention to Kylo as I shovel food into my mouth, hardly chewing before I swallow. It takes very little time to clean my plate, and when I’m done, I look around for more. 

My gaze snags on Kylo, watching me with a sneer. 

“Were you raised by pigs?”

“Excuse me?” 

I cross my arms. He is so annoying. And a snob.  _ And _ he kidnapped me. And is practically starving me. 

“You clearly haven’t been taught table manners. It’s disgusting to watch you stuffing your face.”

I snort. “I don’t care what you think. If you’re only going to feed me twice a day, then I’m going to shovel as much food in my mouth as possible.”

I look down, surprised to find my plate has refilled with seconds of everything. Ignoring Kylo, I tuck back in. 

“Do you usually eat more than twice a day?”

I look up at the genuine curiosity in Kylo’s voice. I chew slowly as I consider him through narrowed eyes, trying to figure out if he’s trying to bait me so he can shrink my cage again. 

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s what’s normal?”

I take another bite of food, answering with my mouth full just to annoy him. He narrows his eyes, considering me. 

“You’re not fat.”

Ass. “Astute observation, thank you.”

I nearly moan when I take my next bite. Why is this food so good? It’s nothing special. Just grilled fish with potatoes and vegetables, but it feels like the best meal ever. Maybe Kylo lied and there really is danger to eating Fae food. Maybe it’s magicked to keep me eating until I die. 

At this point, I don’t care. It’s good and I’m still hungry. 

“How can you eat so much without being fat?”

I huff, rolling my eyes at him. “It’s not polite to ask someone why they’re not fat.”

He blinks and then looks away from me, as if remembering that he’s supposed to look bored. 

“Humans have such strange customs.”

“Yes, eating regularly. How weird.”

I go back to my food and we eat in silence. Or, it would be more accurate to say I eat, and he watches me eat. When I’m done with the second plate, a slice of pie appears. 

Apple. My favorite.

I eat the pie slower, now that my hunger has been sated. Plus, it’s damn good pie. I want to enjoy it.

“Why can’t I walk around the castle?” I ask, breaking the silence and looking up at him. “From what I can tell, we’re the only ones here.”

“You only see what I want you to see,” he replies, yawning. 

I narrow my eyes. What does that mean?

“So there are other people here?”

He snorts. “Of course. You don’t think I spend my time cooking and cleaning, do you?”

“Then why can’t I see them?”

“Because I don’t want you to see them”

Is he hiding them from me? Why? That doesn’t make sense. 

“Why would you do that?” I ask. “What difference does it make if I see them?”

He rolls his eyes. “Servants are meant to be unseen. If you had any class, you would know this.”

I snort and eat the last bite of my pie. “I don’t know if no one told you, but servants aren’t exactly common these days. People do their own housework.”

Kylo’s lip curls. “Of course. I don’t know why I would have expected humans to be civilized.”

“Excuse me,” I say, setting my fork down. “Humans are plenty civilized. We’re just not all a bunch of self-important princes.”

Surprise flashes on Kylo’s face before disappearing behind a mask of contempt. He doesn’t respond, instead snapping his fingers and sending me back to my cage.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep forgetting to thank my alpha/beta readers Ksco and Sheestoolazytologin because I suck. They're very helpful and deserve all the praise!
> 
> Thank you to all you readers as well for the hits, kudos, and comments. :)

My life forms a very dull pattern over the next several days. I hardly see Kylo, only when he snaps me to the dinner table twice a day. 

I generally ignore him, shoveling as much food as I can into my mouth—Kylo had finally given me utensils to eat with—especially at breakfast, since I’ll have the full day ahead of me. It’s not fun eating past the point of fullness, but a woman’s got to do what she can to not whither away from lack of calories. 

I don’t have much to occupy my time in my cage. I now sleep on the floor, too creeped out by the stupid glowing butterflies to stay on the stone bed. 

A few days after being measured, I wake up to find a wooden wardrobe has appeared in my cage. The detailing on it tells me it’s old. 

I walk over to it, fingering the intricately carved handles before pulling the door open. Inside are several beautiful dresses. There are different colors and styles, some with short sleeves and others with long, as if in anticipation of weather changes. 

I finger the fabric of one of the dresses. It’s expensive. Maybe silk, though I’ve never worn silk, so I’m not for sure on that. It’s definitely nicer than anything I’ve owned. 

Despite my desire to get out of the pajamas I’ve been wearing for the better part of a week, I close the door. 

I’m not wearing anything that  _ thing _ gives me. Not to mention there wasn’t a single pant or shirt in sight. Nothing but dresses. I’m not a dresses kind of woman. For one thing, I work as a mechanic, but also they’re just not me. 

I’m not  _ not _ a girly girl. I enjoy jewelry and have more purses than I know what to do with, but dresses aren’t my thing. Maybe it’s growing up in foster care or maybe it’s just the dresses, but I always feel uncomfortable in them. I’ve never even worn a floor-length dress, which all the dresses in the wardrobe are. 

I walk back over to sit on the stone bench that was my bed—now that the butterflies have vacated the net above my head—and wait for Kylo to snap me to breakfast. 

Thankfully, I don’t have to wait long. 

As usual, I don’t bother with a greeting. Instead, I start eating right away. I’m not even done chewing my first bite when Kylo speaks.

“Why are you still wearing those dreadful clothes?”

I put another bite in my mouth, chewing as I look at him. He’s looking at my dirty pajama top and cardigan with a curled lip. 

“Well, A, I’m not going to wear anything you give me and B, there’s nothing but dresses in there and dresses aren’t my thing.”

“You’re a…” he gestures vaguely, “woman.” 

Nice to know he feels the same about me as I feel about him. 

“Good observation,” I say, taking another bite of my breakfast.

Today is fruit filled crepes. Delicious.

“Women wear dresses.”

Kylo sits back and crosses his arms. It’s weird to see a demon looking petulant. I almost expect to see his lip sticking out.

I shrug. It’s been days since Kylo shrank my cage, so I’m not too worried about that anymore, so long as I maintain his rules. I’m still trying to work out how to get more information without losing more square footage. 

“Not me.”

“They’re appropriate attire.”

I snort. “Appropriate? This isn’t the 1850s. Women don’t have to wear dresses if they don't want to.”

“Here, females wear dresses.”

I shrug. “I’m not here by choice, so I don’t really give a rat's ass about what your customs are. If the women-things want to wear dresses, more power to them, but I’m not going to.”

It occurs to me that this is a weird hill to die on, but honestly I don’t care. I have very little control over what’s happening to me at the moment, and no way of getting away from here, so if I can rebel by not wearing fancy dresses, then I’m not going to.

“Women-things?”

Kylo narrows his eyes as I shrug again. 

“You’re not human. No one here is right? So I can’t call you a man or the girls women.”

“We refer to ourselves as males and females.”

“Sure thing,” I say, looking back at my food.

“You will wear the dresses.”

“No, I will not,” I say without looking up. I may be pretending to be more confident than I feel. I don’t really want my cage to shrink, but I hate letting him think he’s getting to me. 

“If you don’t wear the clothes I have provided you, then I’ll simply stop feeding you until you do.”

This gets my attention, and I snap my head up. 

“What?”

He cocks his head, a slow smile spreading across his face. I set down my fork, placing my arms on the table and leaning forward, speaking through my teeth. 

“You care so much about me wearing dresses that you’ll starve me if I don’t wear them?”

“As I said, they’re appropriate attire for females.”

I narrow my eyes. Asshole. “You such a misogynist. I bet next you’ll tell me a woman’s—oh sorry  _ female’s— _ place is at home popping out kids?”

“Naturally.”

I grit my teeth. “What do you want from me? It’s clear you can’t stand the sight of me, so why keep me here?”

Kylo sighed dramatically, snapping his fingers. I know I’ll get back to my cage to find it smaller, and my rage boils over.

I throw my fork at him, followed by my butter knife. Both clattered harmlessly onto the table before sliding to the floor. 

I fruitlessly try to wiggle free of the vines around my waist and legs, but they remain completely immovable.

“Let me go,” I hiss. “You obviously hate me, so just let me leave. I can’t stay here forever.”

“Time moves differently in Faerie,” is all Kylo says in response to my mini-tirade. 

I stop moving, that single sentence catching my attention.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, that time moves differently. Sometimes slower and sometimes faster than outside of Faerie. It’s entirely possible you’re not even missed yet. Or it could have been months since your disappearance. Either way, it doesn’t matter.”

A weird feeling settles in my stomach at the idea that I could potentially be missing for so many years that everyone I know is old when I finally escape. 

“Wrong. It matters.” I start squirming again, this time with panic as the primary motivator for scraping my nails along the vines, trying to pry them away from me.

“It doesn’t,” Kyo says, picking at his nails as I panic at the other end of the table. “You aren’t going anywhere, so it doesn’t matter how time moves outside of Faerie.”

Tears prick my eyes and make me angry. I hate crying, especially when it’s from frustration and anger. 

“Please. Please don’t keep me here.”

Kylo holds up his hand, his thumb on his middle finger, ready to snap.

“Remember, no food until you dress appropriately.”

Before I can respond, he snaps me back into my cage.

* * *

I pace for the rest of the day, unsurprised when I’m not snapped back to the table at dinner. I still refuse to put on any of the dresses. It’s a small rebellion, but it’s the only thing I’ve got at this point.

I spend my time alternating between sitting while I try to think of ways to escape and pacing while I try to think of ways to escape. I even try to climb under the small area the little creek runs through, but can’t even get my head through. It’s just not wide enough for me to fit under the bars.

Probably by design. 

I sleep poorly that night. I always have strange dreams or nightmares when I go to bed hungry. I used to have night terrors before I was taken from my parents’ apartment because they usually forgot I existed. They never once tried to get me back. 

But that doesn’t really matter now. I put my shitty childhood behind me once I turned eighteen and left the system. 

My stomach grumbles when I wake the next day. 

I tell it to shut up and roll over, staring at the wardrobe. 

It’s only been a day, but my resolve is starting to crumble. Hunger has always been my weakness. 

It’s just a dress. Is it really that big of a deal to wear it?

Except then I’d be giving in to Kylo’s demands, and that seems like a dangerous precedent to set. 

After several hours, most of which I spend lying down because being on my feet makes me dizzy, I stand up and walk to the wardrobe. 

I put a hand on the handle. Swallowing, still at war with myself over the idea of actually putting on a dress, I open the door.

They’re still as pretty as the day before. I finger the material of one, cream with what looks like a beige built in corset that ties in the front. At least I’d be able to put it on without help. 

I shudder at the idea of asking Kylo to lace up my corset. I shudder again at the idea of a corset. Pushing it aside, I look at the next dress. Red. Not my favorite color. 

I look through every dress there, reminding myself that I can’t put them on. 

But who am I really hurting by not wearing the dresses? Kylo doesn’t actually care. This is just some way for him to gain power over me. And the only thing I’m achieving is weight loss and weakness. Not very helpful for when I do eventually figure out a way to get out of here.

I grab the first dress off the hanger and yank off my clothes, not even caring whether someone might see me naked. 

Pulling the dress over my head, I’m more acutely aware of the fact that I haven’t had more than a sort-of sponge bath in a week. I’m kind of worried about getting the pretty cream dirty, but then realize that’s a way I can still get back at Kylo, remind him I’m not a doll.

He wants me in a dress? Fine, but since he doesn’t see fit to give me somewhere to bathe, then he gets to see his pretty little dresses dirtied by my disgusting, unwashed body. 

Seems like a fair trade and makes me feel better about putting the dress on. 

I tie the laces of the corset, leaving it loose so I can breathe. 

As soon as I’m done dressing, I’m popped into the dining room. I don’t even stop to see if Kylo is there before I tuck into the food. 

I haven’t had a single bad thing to eat so far, but this food is by far the best I’ve ever tasted. It’s simple fare, just a sandwich with chips and a small salad, but I wolf it down, hardly waiting long enough to swallow before taking another bite. When I’m done, another sandwich appears on my plate. I idly wonder how the food is getting there, and how my plate—or whatever it is doing this—knows when I want seconds.

As I’m licking my fingers after finishing my second sandwich, Kylo slowly fades into his usual chair. 

I jump.

“Have you been here this whole time?” I ask.

He seems to deliberately ignore my question. 

“Your eating habits are disgusting. I see I’m going to have to teach you to eat like a proper lady.”

He stands and walks towards me. 

My breath and I freeze. When he’s at the other end of the table, I can almost forget what a monster he is, but as he gets closer, my eyes dart to the horns twisting up and at his sharp pointed teeth. 

I make a fist with both my hands, sitting straight and tilting my chin up even as my fingernails bite into my palms. I may be terrified, but I don’t want him to know it. 

He stops next to me, his eyes traveling from my face downward. At this angle, he can probably see down my dress. 

He reaches out, trailing a finger around the collar of the dress. I tense when his fingers glide over the small swell of my breast. 

I watch his face, wanting to swat his hand away from me, but scared of what he’ll do to me if I do. He looks as if he’s lost in thought, his eyes out of focus. My nails bite harder into my palm, the pain keeping me from fully panicking. 

He snatches his hand away, blinking rapidly.

He looks at me, something flickering behind his eyes. “It’s a pity the dress is ruined by a dirty thing such as yourself.”

His words stings, surprising me.

Before I can think of a retort, he turns on his heel and walks out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to all the readers, commenters, and kudoers (Yeah, I just made that word up. lol) You all make writing a joy. :)
> 
> Just a gentle reminder that I do qualify this fic as darkfic. It does not include noncon/rape or underage, but does have some very graphic depictions of violence and as you have already noticed, Kylo's not a great guy (at least at the moment.) I hope you'll stick with me as I develop the plot and characters to that HEA I've promised you. ;) I'll also warn for the chapters that contain the graphic violence. 
> 
> Also, I may end up increasing the chapter count. The fic _is_ completed, but in the editing process I've been adding quite a bit, so I may end up shifting things around and thus increasing the chapter count. 
> 
> Thank you again! :)

The days blur together. I start to scratch tick marks into the floor with a small shard of stone I find on the ground to keep track of the days. I know in the back of my mind that it doesn’t really matter since time runs differently in Faerie, but it’s the only way for me to stay sane. I need the illusion that I can get away or I’ll go mad.

So, I eat breakfast; I eat dinner; I scratch my tick marks. In between, I imagine all the ways I could escape. None of them are viable, but it helps my morale to imagine them anyway. 

Kylo spends our meals pretending I don’t exist. I usually ignore him back, though I’m still rankled by the obvious dismissal. I wonder on more than one occasion why he bothers bringing me to the table at all, but I don’t ask. I’m too scared of spending even more time alone in my cell. 

It’s several weeks before there is any break in the monotony. 

I’m scratching my daily tick mark into the ground when a voice startles me.

“My, my. What have we here?”

I jump to my feet and pivot, brandishing my small stone like a weapon in front of me. I open my mouth to demand to know who she is, but no sound comes out. I’m too surprised by the beautiful woman in front of me. 

She looks young, her face free of blemishes or wrinkles. Her hair coiled in elaborate braids, a crown carved of wood with dewdrop jewels hanging from each spike sitting on top of her head. Her gown is white, fitting loosely around her and cinched at the waist. The long sleeves are tight to the elbow and then fan out in a bell shape. She’s much shorter than I am, though it takes me a moment to notice because her commanding presence makes her appear larger than she is.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, is how human she looks. If it weren’t for the delicate tips of her ears sticking out of her braids—and the fact she appeared out of nowhere—I might not have even realized she was Fae.

“Who are you?” I ask, unconsciously taking a step towards her.

She looks me up and down, and I try not to fidget. After Kylo’s insult about my lack of hygiene, a bathtub appeared in my cage and fills with warm water after dinner every night. I’ve at least been able to stay clean, but his insult about my appearance makes me feel insecure as this woman looks me over with a critical eye.

“I’m Leia,” she says, looking me in the eye. “Queen of the Seelie Court.”

I’m pretty sure my mouth drops open when I realize this beautiful young woman is Kylo’s mother. She looks more like she would have a toddler than a full grown son. I guess anti-aging is a perk of immortality. 

“Oh.” 

I stare at her dumbly, not sure how else to respond. She tilts her head to the side, like she’s considering me. I wonder if I’m supposed to curtsy.

“Come closer, child.” She waves a hand, beckoning me closer.

I take a few hesitant steps forward. I’m not convinced I can trust her, given she’s the one who raised Kylo and obviously knows he’s trapped me here.

“Don’t worry,” Leia says, looking faintly amused. “I’m not here to harm you.”

I swallow. Maybe I can get her to help me.

“Please,” I say. “Do you know why I’m here?”

The corner of her mouth tilts up. “Oh, yes.”

I freeze when she reaches through the bars, grasping my hand to pull me closer. I stumble as she tugs. 

“Please,” I plead, “help me get out of here.”

“Oh, I’m afraid I cannot do that.” 

She grasps my chin, tilting my head right and left. I jerk away and step back. 

“Can’t or won’t?”

She smiles, dropping her hand to her side. “Does it really matter?”

I cross my arms. “It’ll help me decide if you’re just as evil as your son.”

Leia chuckled. “Kylo is not evil. Just misguided.”

I scoff, taking several more steps back. “Misguided? He kidnapped me and is keeping me caged without telling me why I’m here or how I can get free.”

Leia nodded. “Yes. That does make things more difficult, though of course that is the point.”

I shake my head. “What?”

“Well, everything would be ruined if you knew the terms.”

“Terms of what?”

Leia is about to respond when Kylo walks through a doorway that I’m positive wasn’t there before.

“What are you doing here, Mother?”

He glances at me as he walks to Leia. He looks furious. Leia turns to face him, clasping her hands in front of her. 

“Can’t a mother come visit her child?”

Kylo speaks through his teeth. “You have never cared to visit until now. I can’t imagine what’s changed.” 

Leia reaches out, cupping Kylo’s cheek, but he swats her hand away. She seems unbothered by his anger.

“You’ve never had such an interesting specimen before.”

I bristle at being called a specimen. 

“I’m standing right here.” I cross my arms and glare at both of them. “I can hear what you’re saying.”

Leia smiles. “Yes, I think she’ll do very nicely.”

“Leave,” Kylo says, pointing to the doorway. 

“After all this time, you still haven’t forgiven me?” 

Leia’s face remains neutral, like she’s asking about the weather. I wonder if it’s even possible to ruffle her feathers. 

“I’ve told you before that I’ll never forgive you.” He points towards the doorway again. “Leave. Now. I don’t want you here.”

What did Leia do to anger Kylo so much? When I take a step closer, they turn to look at me. Kylo seems to realize I’m listening to everything. 

Lifting his finger, he snaps both himself and Leia away, leaving me alone to think about what I’ve just heard.

* * *

I spend the rest of the day replaying the conversations, trying to parse out everything I heard. Now I know there are “terms” related to why I’m here, and I’m pretty sure I know why Kylo can’t tell me anything. There must be some sort of contract or binding on him to prevent him from telling me how to get free. 

But why? And why am I involved at all? 

I pace, trying to piece everything together. It has to have something to do with the terms she won't tell me about. She must have enacted this contract, and that’s why he’s angry with her. It’s really the only thing that makes sense, but there are still too many unknowns for me to feel confident that I know everything that’s going on.

When I’m snapped up to dinner, I’m surprised to find myself sitting alone. 

Of course, that doesn’t mean Kylo’s not there, but as I frown at his chair, I get the feeling he’s not. I shrug and pick up my fork.

It’s only as I’m finished eating that I realize I’m not strapped to the chair. I look down at my vine-free body, perplexed. 

Does Leia have something to do with this sudden change?

I push my chair back and stand, waiting for Kylo to either appear before me or snap me back to my cell. Again, nothing happens. 

Stepping away, I hurry to the door, holding my breath as I walk through it. 

Maybe now I can figure out how to get away from here, to get back home. 

Sweat breaks out on my forehead as I rush through the halls. I find it kind of strange that there are no decorations anywhere. No tapestries, no pictures, no little tables with expensive crap sitting on it for display. Nothing. 

I end up in a large hall, with an enormous staircase in the middle. Looking to my right, I see a massive door.

This must be the door to the outside. I hurry to it, my heart hammering in my chest, waiting for Kylo appear and stop me. He doesn’t.

Flinging it open, I hurry outside.

Despite my sense of urgency, I stop, my eyes widening at the scene before me. There is a wall, at least ten meters high, that looks entirely made of thorns big enough to skewer a person. The grassy area from the door to the wall isn’t enormous, but I gawk at how unnatural it looks. 

The grass is a florescent shade of green. Flowers, also in florescent shades, line the edge of the stone walls of the castle. It’s so bright it makes me wish I had sunglasses. Even the sky is an unnaturally bright shade of blue. The only things that aren’t florescent are the gray stones of the castle and the muted brown of the thorny wall. 

Shaking my head and reminding myself I’m on a time crunch, I walk quickly toward a small arched opening in the wall of thorns. It doesn’t look big enough for me to fit through it, so I’ll have to turn sideways to avoid getting scratched. 

The hair on the back of my neck starts to prickle, and I start running. 

I’m nearly at the arch when someone grabs me by the waist. Great bat wings unfurl in the corner of my eye, and I gasp when the ground recedes sharply below me. I kick, scratching at the arms around my waist as I scream to be let go.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Kylo’s lips are by my ear, his voice soft. I freeze. He stops near the top of the wall and I close my eyes, getting dizzy from the height.

“Besides, you don’t want to risk going through that door. The thorns are poisoned. One scratch and you’d be dead.”

I swallow, my stomach dropping with each dip and rise as Kylo flaps his wings to hold us in place. 

“And if you do escape, “ he continues, “there are far worse creatures than myself who would love to get their hands on a human.”

“Why have an archway if you don’t want anyone escaping?” My voice shakes.

Kylo’s tone hardens. “I didn’t create the wall. My mother did.”

“But…you can fly.”

“I’m glad you’ve noticed.”

I roll my eyes at his dry tone. “No. You can fly, so why bother with a poisoned thorn wall?”

“The wall isn’t for me. It’s for my prisoner. To make sure they think twice before leaving.”

I consider this a moment. 

“Ok… so can you leave?”

“No.” His voice was bitter.

“So what’s keeping you here then? Obviously a wall doesn’t stop you.”

“Far darker magic.”

I shake my head. “What does that mean?”

“It means that I am just as much a prisoner as you are.”

I gasp when we begin to ascend again, happy when we don’t travel very far before my feet touch solid ground again. 

I open my eyes and look around. I’m on a large mezzanine at the top of one of the castle’s turrets. Turning, I see large double doors thrown open. I glance at Kylo and find him watching me with his wings closed, leaning against the wall of the mezzanine. 

I turn back to the doors, assuming his stance means it’s ok for me to wander. Walking inside, I see a bedroom, much larger than the cage I’ve been staying in. There’s an intricately carved four-poster bed, at least three times as big as the bed I have at home. 

To my relief, there are sconces flickering on either side of the bed. If I never see another butterfly, it’ll be too soon.

Across from the bed is a large wardrobe, larger than the one I have in my cage, but just as beautifully carved as the four-poster bed. A doorway to the left leads to a small bathroom, complete with what looks like modern plumbing, though all the pipes look like they’re made of bamboo. 

When I walk back out, Kylo is standing just inside the doorway.

“What is this?” I ask.

“Your new bedroom.”

“I—what?” I blink rapidly at him, caught off guard. I expected punishment for trying to run away, not a fancy new bedroom.

“Why?” I narrow my eyes. “You’ve kept me in a cell for weeks. Why did you suddenly decide not keep me tied to my chair, to give me-” I gesture around, “all this?”

Kylo shrugs, not looking at me. “My mother reminded me of the terms of my curse.”

I digest that bit of information for a moment. I mean, obviously she’s the one keeping him here. She’s the one who built the poison thorn wall, and Kylo admitted to being stuck here as well. I’m now positive that the terms of my freedom and the terms of Kylo’s curse are the same, or at the very least related. 

I narrow my eyes at him. “What does your curse have to do with me? Why kidnap me?”

Kylo looks like he’s about to answer, but instead he walks to the door, shutting it behind him. 

I hear the click of a lock turning a moment later.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, I’m awakened by a beam of sunlight across my face. After so long in a dungeon cage, it’s disorienting. 

I bolt upright, blinking rapidly before I realize the light in my eyes is the sun. Visions of a butterfly attack fade from my mind like a bad dream as I take a deep breath and try to calm my racing heart. 

After several deep breaths, I throw aside the blankets and step onto the rug. The floor of the room is stone, like the walls and ceiling, but the bed is resting on top of an enormous rug. I hiss when I step off the rug and my feet touch the cold stone floor, sending shocks of cold up my legs. 

Hurrying to the wardrobe, I pull open one of the bottom drawers. Inside there are a wide variety of socks and stockings. I grab a thick pair of wool socks and pull them on, sighing in relief. 

I dress quickly. The room feels colder than my cage ever did, which is weird. You’d think a dungeon would be cooler than a high tower. I wonder if I’m waking earlier than usual. After I’m clothed and not so freezing, I look back in the wardrobe, scowling at the row of dresses. No shirts or trousers to be found. I’m going to have to remedy that. 

I check the door, confirming that it's still locked, sigh, and then walk to the double doors leading to the mezzanine. The air feels crisp and clean when I throw them open, the sunlight warm on my skin. I close my eyes and bask in the warmth for a moment. Cloudless sunny days are rare in both Ireland and England. 

Exhaling, I walk to the edge of the mezzanine and place my hand on top of the stone railing, gazing out at the landscape. The air is clear of all the pollution which usually clouds visibility back home. I’ve never been able to see so far away. 

Like the grass and flowers I saw the previous day, the trees and other foliage in the distance look unnaturally bright, the colors various fluorescent shades. I see birds and other creatures flying through the air, or jumping from tree to tree, but can’t make out any details. A shiver runs through me when I realize they might not be animals at all. 

The lock clicks loudly behind me. I whirl around as Kylo steps through the door. He spots me immediately and walks with unhurried steps to the mezzanine. 

The sun glints off his hair, which I’m surprised to realize is iridescent, throwing off a rainbow of colors in the sun. I don’t want to admit it, but it’s gorgeous. In fact, the strange beauty of his hair both contrasts and complements the black horns curving up and the leathery wings on his back. It’s such an odd combination of beauty and horror.

My heart does a weird thump in my chest when he takes a step towards me. 

“What are you doing here?” I ask, pressing back into the railing and grasping it tightly. 

He stops a few paces away, though I still have to tilt my head to look at his face. 

“I came to escort you to breakfast.”

He looks away, his jaw ticking when I don’t immediately respond. I’m so thrown off that all I can do is stare dumbly at him, my mouth opening and closing before I finally manage to speak.

“You—What?” 

I’ve been snapped to and from the dinner table every meal the entire time I’ve been here. 

“Why?”

Kylo’s eyes flash in anger and he lifts his hand. “If you’d rather I snap you there...”

Without thinking, I grab his hand, shouting, “No!”

I flinch when I realize I’m touching him and immediately let go. I throw my hand behind my back so he can’t see me flexing my fingers. Much like when he skimmed his fingers along my neckline, my skin is tingling where I touched him. 

He raises his eyebrows at me, but lowers his hand. His gaze flicks down to the hand behind my back. I immediately drop it to my side, forcing myself not to fidget. 

My heart beats hard in fear and… something else. I choose not to examine the “something else” too closely, afraid of what I’ll discover about myself if I do. 

Kylo watches me grapple with my emotions, his expression closed. 

After a prolonged moment, he says, “Very well.” He gestures toward the open doorway. “After you.”

My hands involuntarily fist at my side. I don’t want to walk in front of him. More specifically, I don’t want him to walk behind me. 

The corner of his mouth tilts up, and his eyes glitter with malicious glee, obviously enjoying my predicament. Another emotion flashes across his face, but it’s gone so quickly, I think I might have imagined it. 

I force my fists to open, square my shoulders, and walk past him towards the open door of the bedroom. 

I don’t wait to see if he’s following me as I descend the stairs outside my door. They wind in a spiral down the stone tower. There’s no handrail—I guess they don’t have inspectors come when building castles here— so I trail my fingers along the stone wall as I descend. There are sconces every so often, the flames flickering brightly in the semi-dark tower.

I flinch when Kylo steps down beside me. I can feel his folded wings brushing against my back and quicken my pace, trying to stay at least a half-step ahead of him. 

It feels like forever before the stairs end in a doorway. Stepping into the room, I see what looks like some sort of study. There are several chairs arranged close to a roaring fire and a large wooden desk on the opposite side of the room.

Kylo strides past me toward the door on the opposite wall. He stops and turns back to me when he realizes I haven’t followed. I’m too busy taking in the room, which is full of decorations. It’s in complete contrast to what little I saw in the hallways the day before. This room actually looks like someone lives here. 

Kylo sighs loudly, striding back and grasping my hand. Warmth and tingling shoots up my arm. We both gasp and drop our hands. Kylo’s eyes widen for a moment. He looks as confused as I do. My heart thuds in my chest, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

I hug my hand to my chest. It didn’t hurt. In fact, it was the opposite of hurt. It felt…nice. 

This realization freaks me out. I drop my hand, telling myself that I’m just touch starved from all the time I spent alone in a dungeon. I force myself to stare at Kylo, to see the horns, the yellow snake eyes, the bat wings. To remind myself of what he is.

Kylo startles me when he turns, his voice hard as he strides to the door. “Come on.”

I take a deep breath, chanting _it doesn’t mean anything_ in my head, and then follow him.

Kylo doesn’t look behind him to confirm I’m following. I think he is just as surprised as I am by whatever happened when he grabbed my hand. 

When we reach the dining room, he snaps his fingers and my chair pulls back from the table. I stop, frowning at it. 

This feels weird. Too much like he’s holding the chair out for me. 

“Sit.” 

I snap my eyes to him, finding him glaring at me. I’m a little surprised by the fire in his tone. He sounds livid. 

He _looks_ livid. 

I briefly consider glaring back at him, but honestly it’s not worth the whatever punishment he’d mete out now that I no longer have a cage for him to shrink. I bite down on my tongue to keep my mouth shut, press my lips together, and exhale through my nose as I walk to the chair and sit. My head knocks against the back of it when it magically scoots in. 

I rub the back of my head and glare at Kylo. I expect him to be smirking at me, but he’s looking down at plate. He stabs a potato so hard the fork clangs against the plate and stuffs it into his mouth. 

I watch him for a few minutes as he stabs the rest of his food with equal vehemence. 

Honestly, his mood seems disproportionate to what happened. So there was a weird feeling when we held hands. Big deal.

When I snort, he looks up at me, narrowing his eyes. 

“What?” He over pronounces the T at the end of the word, his voice loud enough that it echoes around the room.

I cross my arms, ignoring the fear and my racing heart. “What’s got your panties in a twist?”

If looks could kill, I’d be incinerated on the spot. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says through his teeth. 

I force myself not to fidget under his glare. “It was just a hand hold. No need to be so dramatic.”

He scoffs. “If you think you—” he spits the word out, “are the reason for my mood, you’re mistaken.”

“Oh, really?” I raise my eyebrows. 

I should probably be more terrified of what he’ll do in his anger, but instead I’m equal parts amused and annoyed. I know faeries can’t lie, but they can spin things well enough to look like a lie. 

“So, you’re upset with yourself, then?” I say. 

He reminds me a bit of a raging bull, the way he exhales through his nose and then bares his pointed teeth at me. 

I’m surprised when all he says is “Eat.”

Without another word, he looks down at his plate. 

I frown at him, somewhat fascinated when his body suddenly relaxes, as if all the anger drains away… or maybe is forced away. I must have hit the nail on the head. He’s upset with himself. I can’t help but feel a little indignant that he clearly finds me so repulsive, that feeling whatever it was between us threw him into a fit of rage. 

Asshole.

After glaring at him for several long moments, I turn to my food, scarfing it down. As usual, my plate refills as soon as I finish. Without pausing, I keep eating. This might be the only thing I like about this place. Reminds of something out of Harry Potter. 

When I finally set my fork down, I glance down the table to Kylo. My heart does a weird beat skip when I realize he’s watching me. 

He’s still glaring, his chin resting on the palm of his hand, his index finger resting against his temple. He looks lost in thought, however, and doesn’t seem to notice that I’ve caught him looking at me. I sit back and cross my arms, openly staring back at him. 

My fingers twitch against my arm when I remember the feel of his skin against mine. Maybe my reaction is because of some sort of faerie magic. 

I narrow my eyes, my gaze moving across his features. Somehow over my time here, the parts that made him so frightening—the horns spiraling upward, the bat wings, the snake eyes and pointed teeth—have become… normal. 

Or, you know, normal in the way that seeing a shark in the ocean is normal. Either way, I’m not terrified by his appearance the way I once was. 

Maybe I’m just lonely. I’ve seen no one except Kylo for weeks, excepting the little creature who took my measurements, and my brief encounter with Leia the day before. 

I nod to myself. That has to be it. I’ve become desensitized to Kylo’s appearance because I see it every day, and I only reacted to his grasping my hand because I haven’t really touched anyone in weeks. It’s perfectly natural for me to have felt something. If it had been Plutt grabbing my hand, I probably would have felt tingles too.

That thought makes me snort. Kylo blinks and focuses on my face, scowling. 

“What?”

I shrug, tightening my fingers on my arms. “Nothing.”

He glares at me for a moment longer before lifting his hand. “If you’re done eating…” 

Before I can protest, he snaps me back to my bedroom high up in a tower, the lock turning sounding like a gunshot in the silence.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and happy Thursday to those that done. :)

Several weeks pass and loneliness creeps in. I only see Kylo at breakfast and dinner, and we mostly eat in silence. Lunch starts appearing in my room, which is a relief. My low grade panic over eating enough for breakfast to satisfy me through the day starts to fade.

Strangely, it feels lonelier in my tower than it did in my cage in the dungeon. Maybe because, from my mezzanine, I can see land for miles. Animals, birds, and other creatures move through the forests while I remain locked in a tower. 

If I had any faith in my ability to grip the stones that make up the castle, I’d try to climb down and escape. When I test my ability to scale the walls of my spacious bedroom, however, I can only make it a few steps up before my fingers and toes give out.

At least I now have books to pass the time with. I hadn’t noticed it at first, but a small bookshelf appeared at the end of my bed, stuffed full of novels. I wondered if they were written by faeries, but was surprised to see they were filled with English classics. I’ve never been a fan of reading classics, but it’s better than twiddling my thumbs all day.

Against my better judgement, I begin to look forward to breakfast and dinner, eagerly anticipating my time with Kylo. I’m curious about him, wanting to know more about him, his history, how he got here, what his interests are, and I have to stop myself from asking a million questions. 

This development disturbs me. 

They say that Stockholm Syndrome isn’t actually real, but I’m questioning that now. Being drawn to Kylo makes no other logical sense, but that is the best way to describe how I feel. Almost like we’re magnetized. 

The things about him that used to repulse me, like his otherworldliness, seem normal now. Now I notice other things about him. His silky hair that I want to run my hands through. His wide shoulders and the muscles rippling underneath his clothing. Even his facial features, which were once so alien, are becoming less repulsive to me now. In fact, I’m beginning to forget that he doesn’t look human and realize he’s pretty hot.

I guess you can get used to anything. To make myself feel better about finding my captor hot, I tell myself it’s just the loneliness at work.

I’ve noticed a change in how he looks at me as well. After his moody response to touching me, his expressions have been free of the disdain I had almost gotten used to. He keeps his face neutral, but every once in awhile I’ll catch him watching me, an odd look in his eyes. 

Sometimes when he leads me to the dining room, our hands will brush each other. The first time it happened, I flinched. I didn’t really mean to, but Kylo snatched his hand back, quickly folding his hands in front of him.

He probably thought I flinched from repulsion, but I didn’t. I flinched from the same zing of energy that ran up my arm. Not quite an electrical shock, but something similar which left my skin tingling.

He was careful to keep his hands clasped in front of him after that, to keep space between us. The thing that scares me the most is the fact that I wish he wouldn’t.

But why would I fall for my captor?

I wouldn’t.

This is loneliness and nothing more. I keep telling myself that I just need to get a grip, to remember that if he hadn’t kidnapped me in the first place, I wouldn’t be lonely. Not only that, but I can’t forget the fact he’s not human.

I have a life in Ireland. Maybe I don’t have a lot of friends, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to give up life in Ireland, that I’m willing to spend however long in Faerie.

_ He’s your kidnapper  _ I chant to myself on the way to and from the dining room each day, trying to quell the strange pull I feel towards him.

Staring out at the land beyond the thorny wall, I mull over my growing curiosity, so lost in my thoughts that I don’t hear Kylo knock.

“Rey.”

I jump, whirling as I suck in a sharp breath. “You scared me.”

“It’s time for dinner,” is all he says in response.

I nod, taking a short moment to collect myself, to put up my internal armor before walking over to him.

He holds out his elbow—strange, he’s never done this before. I clench my hands into fists. He looks down and then drops his arm.

My face heats, and I become uncomfortable thinking he probably interpreted the move as disgust rather than my attempt to protect myself from becoming even more attracted to my kidnapper.

Willing my blush to go away, I walk out the door, not waiting for him before I descend the winding staircase. He catches up to me, matching my stride and saying nothing.

“You don’t have to come walk with me,” I say, my voice rasping from disuse.

He pauses for a moment. “I know I don’t.”

I look sideways at him. “Then why do you?”

When he takes longer than a few moments to answer, I look over, careful to keep one hand on the wall as I walk down the stairs. He stares straight ahead, his arms crossed as he steps down, not needing the wall for balance like me. His expression remains neutral, but I get the impression that he’s having some sort of internal debate with himself.

“I don’t want you to wander alone.”

I turn my gaze forward. Makes sense actually, considering the last time he left me alone I tried to leave. I really should have thought of that.

My stupid emotions plummet at his answer, however. I guess I thought he enjoyed spending the time with me, but that was stupid. Of course it was just that. If he enjoyed spending time with me, he wouldn’t only see me at breakfast and dinner.

We walk the rest of the way in silence.

I’m surprised when we get to the dining hall and instead of going to his own seat, Kylo follows me to mine, pulling out my seat for me.

I freeze, staring at the chair instead of sitting. 

“Sit.”

Kylo’s voice is sharp and I do as I’m told. I watch him walk to the end of the table and sit in his own chair. He doesn’t look at me as he picks up his knife and fork and starts eating. I do the same, though I’m not feeling hungry anymore.

I glance at him throughout the silent meal, wondering what prompted his sudden fit of chivalry, the proffered elbow and pulling out my chair.

He never so much as glances back at me.

I finish my food before he does, but that’s normal. Despite his threat to do so, he never showed me how to eat “properly,” so I still wolf down my food. The addition of lunch has tempered how quickly I wolf it down, but I’m still done at last five to ten minutes before him at every meal.

There’s a wall of windows to my right, so I usually spend the time staring out the window. There’s not much to look at, mostly the thorn wall, but it keeps me from staring at him, so I force myself to do it.

I don’t even realize I’m lost in thought until I hear footsteps approaching. Looking up, I see Kylo standing next to my chair, holding out his hand.

I hesitate, looking between his hand and his face. There’s an odd look on his face. If I didn’t know better, I’d call it vulnerability.

He starts to pull his hand back, but I grasp it before he does. The same shock fizzles up my arm, trailing goosebumps behind it, but I don’t flinch like I did the first time.

I stand and have to tilt my head back to look at him. He didn’t step back when I stood, and I’m mere inches from his chest.

He is looking down at me, our faces so close I can feel his breath brushing across my cheeks. My heart beats hard in my chest as I unknowingly hold my breath.

We’re both frozen, though Kylo keeps looking back and forth between my eyes and my mouth.

I just stare at his mouth.

I should be thinking about the razor-sharp teeth, about how he’s not human, but I’m not. All I can think about is how soft his lips look, about how they would feel against my own.

He lifts a hand, running the tip of his finger down the side of my face and then tracing my lips. Without consciously deciding to do so, I part my lips. He’s still holding my hand and I squeeze it tightly, not even fully sure what I want. 

I mean, I want him to kiss me, but that seems like a line we shouldn’t cross—that I shouldn’t let him cross. He kidnapped me. He’s holding me here. I shouldn’t want him to kiss me.

I look up from his lips, meeting his gaze.

His fingers trail down my jaw and around to the back of my neck. His hand is so large that he can still brush my cheek with his thumb.

My heart starts beating faster in anticipation as he slowly lowers his head. My eyes flutter shut just as his lips brush mine.

He hardly touches me at first, and I nearly whine when he pulls back. Before I can, he kisses me again, harder. A shiver runs up my spine when he drops my hand to the small of my back and pulls me closer.

I grasp his shoulder, standing on my toes to press my lips harder to his.

He holds me so tightly to him, that even if I wanted to drop down off my toes, I couldn’t. He makes a sound in the back of his throat, his hand clenching my hair almost to the point of pain.

He runs his tongue along the seam of my mouth and whatever remaining restraint I had is shredded. I gladly open for him, throwing both arms around his neck and pulling at his hair like he pulls mine.

He likes that, growling and kissing me harder.

After a time, I start to feel dizzy, but don’t want to pull away long enough to breathe. I feel like I've been touched by a live wire, every hair standing on end as he kisses me over and over, his tongue sliding against mine.

The reality of what I’m doing hits me all at once and I pull away with a gasp, shoving against Kylo’s chest.

He drops his hands, stumbling back a couple steps. I dart around him and run to the door.

I can’t believe I just did that. What is wrong with me. I kissed my kidnapper. What’s worse is I liked it. More than liked it. 

I don’t really pay attention to where I’m running, but my feet seem to know where to go because in no time, I’m flying out the front door and sprinting across the grassy expanse to the thorn wall.

The archway which seemed so close the first time I saw it now seems far away. Too far away. Kylo can’t be far behind me. I might have caught him by surprise, shoving him away out of the blue, but he’s not going to just let me run out to freedom.

I’m nearly there when I hear him running up behind me. His long legs make short work of catching up to me.

Slowing as I near the archway, I turn sideways to avoid the thorns. I can’t afford to get scratched by a poisoned thorn just as I’m making my escape. I slide through, sucking in, even though I’m already thin.

Kylo yells at me to stop, but I ignore him. I can’t stay here any longer. If it’s taken me just a few weeks of loneliness to not only let him kiss me, but to return his kiss with a passion so strong it scares me, then I have to get away.

I feel a tug on my skirt just as I’m through the arch. I reach down and yank it out of his grasp. He can’t fit through the archway and I’m assuming the thorns are poisonous to him as well, so he has no choice but to let go.

“You can’t get out of Faerie, Rey!”

In my rush to flee, I don’t notice the note of panic in his voice.

“I can’t protect you!”

I keep running, heading for the dense forest several hundred meters ahead.

“Rey!”

When I reach the trees, I slow down just enough not to trip over every root.

I can hear him yelling after me, but continue to run away from him as fast as I can.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: fairly graphic near-drowning

I don’t know where I’m going, but I figure if I walk in a straight line, I’m bound to run into water. The forest seems pretty well hydrated, so there’s probably a river or stream nearby. I’ll find a water source first and then figure out what to do next. 

I squint, the neon colors of the foliage so bright that they hurt my eyes. I feel like I’m walking through a scene from Avatar, everything brightly lit. 

My feet hurt as I stumble over the forest floor. I’m not wearing any shoes. Kylo never gave me any, and I—moron that I am—never asked for any. 

As Kylo’s screams fades into the distance, I slow down a bit, looking around and trying to get my bearings. The tree canopy is extremely high and almost completely covers the sky. Little pin pricks of light make their way to the forest floor, but they do little to dispel the darkness created by the canopy. It’s not as dark as night, but the fluorescent foliage looks like it’s literally glowing in the semi-darkness.

I hear something and pause to listen. It sounds like trickling water to my right and ahead of me. Changing course, I head toward the sound. 

The trees become even more dense and it’s difficult to squeeze through them by the time I reach the stream. It’s only maybe a meter wide, but when I step closer to look into the crystal clear water, I can’t see the bottom. 

As I lean away, I see small, glowing eyes looking at me from under a small rock shelf. I try to ignore the unease that unfurls in my stomach at their glowing eyes. They’re probably water sprites or whatever. 

Kylo’s warning that I won’t be able to find a way out echoes in my mind, but I shove it aside. I got here somehow. I look left and right, trying to decide which way to go.There has to be a way out. I choose left, following the stream. At least I’ll have access to water when I need it. 

I don’t know how far I’ve walked when I begin to notice it’s getting darker. Night is falling and all I have is the dress I’m wearing. It feels like the temperature is dropping quickly, but I stubbornly tell myself it’s all in my head. 

My feet are going numb, however, walking so close to the damp shoreline of the stream. The trees are so dense that my only options are to walk on the other side of them and risk losing sight of the stream or to walk along the water’s edge.

At one point, the frozen, wet ground sent shocks of cold up my legs. I decide to try walking on the other side of the trees, but the sound of the creek disappears after a couple seconds. Freaked out, I hurry back through the trees worried that the magic in Faerie will move the creek if I’m not next to it. 

The forest lights up as the sun sets, so I’m not in full darkness. I shudder as butterflies, pixies, and tiny fairies fly around. One of the pixies reaches down and pulls a strand of my hair. 

“Ow!”

I swat the pixie away, glaring at it as it cackles, its voice high pitched and creepy. 

I’m hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. The trees have fruit hanging from high above, but I’m not sure what’s edible and what’s poisonous, so I don’t risk eating them.

Hunger doesn’t really matter, though. You can go days and even weeks without eating. 

Thirst, however, is a much more pressing matter. 

I look down at the stream, swallowing as I see dozens of glowing eyes in the now-dark water. I’m not really looking forward to drinking straight from a stream full of sprites, but I don’t really have much choice. 

Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I kneel on the ground, moisture soaking through the skirt of my dress as I dip my hand in the water. 

It’s not as cold as I expected it to be, and it looks refreshing when I pull my hand out. It almost sparkles in my palm. I take a cautious sip of the water. 

It’s delicious. Just the right temperature. The best way to describe the taste is “refreshing.”

I dip my hand back in, my thirst even stronger now that I’ve had a taste. I drink from my cupped hand over and over until my thirst feels quenched. 

When I try to move away, I can’t. 

Then my hand, moving of its own volition, dips back into the water, bringing it to my mouth. 

I drink and swallow, and my hand dips back into the water.

It’s like I’ve lost all control of my own body. I drink handful after handful. I can’t stop.

I try to scream, but can’t do more than whimper in the back of my throat.

Flicking my gaze back down, I’m startled to see the sprites are now much closer to the surface of the water, their eyes glowing, knowing smiles on their faces. I can hear them chittering under the water. It sounds like they’re laughing at me.

It’s getting hard to breathe between sips, my hand moving faster and faster. Tears of panic form as my stomach fills, and water both falls down my windpipe to my lungs and drips down my chin into the stream. My vision swims, black spots forming as my body screams for air.

Kylo was right. I never should have left.

I pray to whatever gods or goddesses there are for help. Any help. The magic that keeps me drinking seems to be keeping me from dying as well.

Not the blessing it sounds like.

Pain radiates through my chest as my lungs keep trying to get oxygen and my head pounds, black spots dancing in my vision. 

It feels like this will never end. I don’t know how to break the spell holding me here. The arm I’m using to hold myself up is shaking. The muscles in my legs are cramping up, and I’m afraid I’m going to collapse into the stream. I’m not even sure I want to stop myself from falling, but whatever self preservation I have left keeps me from just letting myself collapse. 

Before long, however, I lose the battle with my limbs and fall face first into the water. My body remains on land, but my head is fully submerged. 

The magic that was keeping me alive is still doing so. My entire body feels like it’s on fire, but I can’t so much as twitch to pull myself out of the water. 

Water sprites are cackling, swimming around my head, tugging my hair. Meanwhile, I’m in full-blown panic mode, screaming in my head, trying to make my limbs move and unable to do so.

Someone grabs me by the shoulder and yanks me out of the water.

I’m thrown onto my back and gape like a fish. I finally start coughing, but on my back there’s nowhere for the water to go, so it keeps choking me. 

My eyes are wide, my vision filled with red eyes above me. 

Someone scoffs, and pain bursts in my side as I’m roughly shoved onto my stomach. I immediately vomit up the water. I don’t know how long I’m coughing—it feels like hours—but eventually I’m able to take a breath without dissolving into a coughing fit. 

My throat burns, each breath I take feeling like I’m inhaling fire, but at least I’m not dead and can breathe again. 

“You’re an idiot.”

In my preoccupation with trying to breathe, I’d forgotten about the red eyes above me and the person who kicked me. I force myself to move. 

My limbs feel like they’re made of limp noodles, but eventually I’m able to push myself up onto my knees. I lean back, tucking my legs under my butt, keeping my fingertips touching the ground for stability. 

Forcing my head up, I look through my now wet and matted hair to the person sneering down at me. 

Glowing red eyes are set in a pale face, skin so light it’s almost white. His hair is so red it doesn’t look natural. It looks like he picked up a red crayon and scribbled his hair in. He’s missing the horns and wings I’m used to seeing on Kylo, but even if he didn’t have pointed ears, I would know he wasn’t human. 

He is looking at me like you might look at the shit you stepped in, his face twisted into a sneer.

“Who are you?” I rasp. 

He snorts. “Of course that’s all you have to say.”

I realize my gaffe and hastily add, “Thank you.” 

I want to say more than just thank you, to ask him questions about who he is and how he found me, but it hurts too much to talk. 

Instead, I collapse and everything goes black.

* * *

“Get up.”

I’m literally yanked out of sleep when the faerie grabs my arm and pulls me up. 

He must have left me where I collapsed because I’m in the same position I collapsed in and morning light is shining weakly through the dense canopy. 

“What’s going on?” It still hurts to speak, but my voice seems a little less raspy than it was last night. “Who are you?”

He yanks on my arm again. “Get up.”

I use my other hand and feebly pull at his hand. “Let me go and I will.”

He sneers at me. “Oh believe me, I would love nothing more than to stop touching you. I’ll need several showers just to get the stench of you off my skin.”

I try yanking my arm, but my muscles are still exhausted from almost dying the night before. 

“Get up. We have to go.”

My shoulder screams as he pulls harder and I try to get my feet underneath me as quickly as I can. Once I’m standing, he walks through the trees, away from the stream, yanking me behind him. 

It’s hard to stay upright and I trip a lot on the roots, unable to pick up my feet. When I trip and fall into the faerie, he drops me and scowls down at me.

“Disgusting. Don’t you even know how to walk or are you too stupid to do that?”

All I can do is blink up at him. Is he for real? 

“I almost drowned.” My voice sounds feeble even to my own ears.

It takes all my available willpower to push myself back up. I lay a hand on the nearest tree trunk to steady myself. 

“And what a pity that would have been.” 

He grabs my arm with a look of pure disgust and yanks me behind him again. When I look up, I see a horse tied to a tree, munching on weeds. 

“Did Kylo send you?” I ask. My shoulder screams as I try to keep up with his long strides.

He stops, throwing my arm down. The look on his face has me cowering away as he speaks through his teeth, rage making his red eyes glow even brighter.

“I’m not some servant to do Kylo’s bidding.” 

He snaps his fingers and my hands are bound in front of me with a thin piece of rope and attached to the saddle of the horse.

“What are you doing?”

I don’t even try to moderate the fear in my voice. Does he expect me to walk next to him while he rides to god knows where?

“I’m taking you to see the Unseelie King.”

My heart stops. I may be rusty on my faerie lore, but I remember reading about the Unseelie King. The Unseelie faeries are best known for being malicious, delighting in torturing humans, and the King of the Unseelie is the worst of them.

“No.” I struggle, turning and trying to run away. All I manage to do is fall, however, gasping as my shoulders feel like they’re being pulled out of socket.

“Stop struggling.”

“No!” 

Adrenaline now coursing through my veins gives me enough energy to yank hard, but despite how fragile it looks the rope might as well be made of iron. All my yanking does is rub my wrists raw.

Eventually the faerie tires of watching me struggle. He snaps his fingers and the rope is now over my entire body from neck to toes. I’m bound like a mummy. 

I fall to the ground, and get the wind knocked out of me. Guess my lungs aren’t up to the challenge today. While I’m struggling to breathe properly again, the faerie gets on his horse and clicks. 

The horse isn’t moving very fast, but it doesn’t matter. The iron-like rope may be strong, but it’s also thin. I feel every root, rock, and dirt clump as I’m dragged over them. 

When we get to a stretch of fairly straight and open land, he clicks again and the horse starts trotting. 

I bounce every time I hit a root, struggling to keep myself from losing my breath each time I hit the ground again. 

The faerie obviously doesn’t care, not even glancing back to make sure I’m ok. 

My eyes go wide as I start drifting to the side, a large tree right in front of me. 

I knock into it, head first, and see stars.

My last thought before I black out is that I should have listened to Kylo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never fear, Rey and Kylo are reunited next chapter. ;)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! Thankful that 2020 is soon behind us. Hope everyone's socially distanced celebrations are fun.

I come to, groaning and squinting as I open my eyes. The fading sunlight causes bursts of pain behind my eyes. 

It takes a moment to realize that I’m no longer bound from head to foot. Instead, I’m strapped to a tree, the rope wrapped around my torso, leaving my arms and legs free. 

It looks like we’ve stopped to camp for the night. There’s a fire cracking and some sort of animal roasting on a spit above it. 

I whip my head around when the faerie steps noiselessly into view. How he can walk on a forest floor and not so much as break a twig is beyond me. 

“What’s your name?” My throat is still painful from my near-drowning and my voice is rasping. 

He looks over at me, his lip curled in distaste. “Finally awake I see.”

I ignore the barb. I need to figure out what’s happening. 

“What does the Unseelie King want with me?”

He shrugs. “I didn’t ask.” He smiles. “But I’m sure you’ll find it extremely unpleasant. His Majesty’s favorite pastime is torturing insignificant creatures such as yourself.”

My heart pounds, making my headache worse. I close my eyes, trying to concentrate. I feel like this is important, but I don’t know why.

“How did the Unseelie King even know I exist?”

The faerie seems to be on the verge of rolling his eyes when he answers. “He has taken a special interest in Kylo, and has spies that keep him apprised of any changes in his existance.”

I shake my head. “A special interest? Why?”

“I’m done talking to you.” 

He picks up a skin of water and tosses it at me. Thankfully, I catch it before it hits me in the face. I don’t even realize how thirsty I am until I start drinking and down the entire thing. 

The water leaves a bloated sloshy feeling in my stomach that makes me nauseated. I close my eyes and concentrate on not throwing it all back up. 

I must have dozed off because when I open my eyes again, it’s fully dark. My stomach grumbles and I realize I haven’t eaten in over a day. Like the night before, there are creatures glowing in the night above my head. The faerie looks like he’s asleep, lying on a bed of leaves covered with a blanket. 

Of course he didn’t leave one for me. And he didn’t bother giving me dinner. 

I struggle, but the rope is too strong for me. He probably used the same magic Kylo had used to tie me to the chair, because I can’t so much as get a fingernail underneath the rope. 

I hear chittering above my head. Looking up, I see a swarm of tiny glowing creatures. 

They fly towards me, and I flinch back into the tree. One stops in front of my face, and I realize it’s a tiny pixie. It has a little humanoid body and wings, but it doesn’t quite look like the Tinkerbell of my childhood. Its eyes are glowing red, its teeth are sharp as it smiles at me, and it’s fingers are long with sharp pointed nails at the end.

Without warning, it swipes a hand, raking its nails down my face. 

I gasp, whacking it away and putting a hand to my cheek. It comes away red. 

More of them swoop down and I don’t even bother being gentle as I smack them away from me. A few of them land on my head, holding tightly to my hair when I try to pull them off. 

Still more of them land on my legs, using their nails like little needles and poking me over and over. 

“A little help here!”

The faerie doesn’t so much as twitch. 

He can’t really be sleeping through this. I remember what court he comes from and realize he’s probably listening and enjoying himself, knowing I’m helpless. He’s probably the one who told them to attack me. 

I don’t get any sleep that night, spending every moment fighting off the pixies. They don’t do serious damage to me, nothing that would require stitches, but it feels a bit like death by a thousand paper cuts. 

As the first rays of sunlight come through the trees, they finally leave. I lean my head back with a sigh, closing my eyes. 

I doze for a few minutes, but am woken by a rough shake of my shoulder. 

With effort, I open my eyes, looking up blearily at the red eyes swimming in my field of vision.

“Get up,” he says, wiping his hand on his pants. 

He waves a hand, and the bindings disappear. I slump over onto the ground with a groan.

Everything hurts. My lungs and throat still feel like I’m breathing fire with every breath, my arms and legs burn from the scratches, and the rest of my body feels banged up from being dragged on the ground the day before.

He nudges me with his foot. “I said get up.”

“I can’t.” I curl in on myself, just wanting to sleep. “If you drag me behind you again, I’m going to die.”

He scoffs. “Stop being melodramatic.”

I ignore him, closing my eyes. I’m not lying. I’m not sure I can make it another day with the way things are going. He’s speaking again, but it’s as if he’s talking from a long distance through a tube. 

I think I might have passed out, because the next thing I know, I hear shouting. 

Cracking my eyes open, I blink several times trying to focus on what’s happening. 

Everything is blurry and feels like a dream, but my vision resolves enough to make out that there are three more faeries. They’re each swinging some sort of weapon, and the red-haired faerie is fighting all three.

I hope he’s losing.

I can’t really keep my eyes open and don’t fight it. Whatever my fate is, at this point, I just want to sleep.

* * *

“How is she?”

“Not good.”

I try to open my eyes, but can’t. I want to ask who’s speaking, to defend myself if they’re more faeries from the Unseelie Court, but I can’t move my mouth either.

“Can she travel?”

“Not today. I don’t know what’s happened to her, but she’s got bruises and swelling all over. Not to mention the scratches on her arms, legs, and torso.”

“Hux is a prick. You should have let me finish him.”

“You know what Leia said. We can’t kill Snoke’s right hand man.”

“And Rose here still thinks she can turn him.”

“Shut up, Poe.”

“Am I wrong?”

“Shut up, both of you. It doesn’t matter now. We need to put some ground between us and Hux before he wakes up.”

“I thought you said she couldn’t travel.”

“I’ll carry her.”

“Are you sure, Finn?”

Hands gently scoop under my legs and shoulders. I think I groan as I’m lifted, but pass out again almost immediately.

* * *

I slip in and out of consciousness so many times that I have no idea how much time passes. It’s hard to concentrate enough to figure out how far I am from the creek or Kylo’s castle. In fact, I can’t tell if I’m being taken back to Kylo and only vaguely remember Leia’s name. Thinking is difficult, so I just let the blackness take me back under. 

The three voices don’t talk much as we travel, and when they do I don’t hear a lot. I think I hear the one called Finn say something about keeping me sedated. I want to protest, but can’t before I slip back into unconsciousness. 

A fourth voice, familiar, joins the other three when I come to. The arms holding me feel larger than Finn’s. The deep voice sounds angry.

“Who did this?”

A pause. “Hux.”

The hands gripping me flex tighter. I whimper and turn my head into a hard chest. 

“What’s wrong with her?”

Finn answers. “She’s pretty banged up. I don’t know what he did to her, but her breathing has been labored. I couldn’t find any swelling around her abdomen, so I don’t know what happened. She has a lot of bruising on her body, possibly some cracked bones. I think he dragged her behind him. Looks like he let the pixies get to her as well.”

A growl rumbles against my cheek. 

“Hey,” says the other male, Poe. “Don’t growl at us. We aren’t the ones who did it.”

“She’ll be ok,” says Rose, her voice quiet.

“Leave.” 

“Keep putting salve on her cuts,” says Finn. “And I’d keep her sedated for at least a few days. She’ll be in a lot of pain. Better if she doesn’t have to feel it and it’ll give her time to heal.”

The one holding me doesn’t respond, and I feel him swing around.

“Always a pleasure, Kylo.”

That’s right. It’s Kylo who’s holding me.

I try to move, I think, to get him to set me down, but before I can do more than shift, the darkness falls over me again.

* * *

The next time I wake up, my head is much clearer. I blink several times at the stone ceiling above my head.

I take a mental assessment of my body, trying to remember what happened. It feels like I have something on my face. Raising my hand, I pause when I see wide leaves sewn together up and down my arm. I frown. 

Putting a hand on my face, I feel more leaves. I pull one off and see what looks like some sort of ointment on them. 

“I would leave those on.”

I inhale sharply, dropping my hand.

When I see Kylo step out of the shadows, it all comes flooding back. The near-drowning, the faerie—Hux—dragging me behind his horse, and the rescue by Rose, Poe, and Finn.

“How did I get here?” It doesn’t hurt to talk. Or breathe. “How long have I been asleep?”

“My mother’s warriors brought you here.” 

He watches me, a cautious look in his eyes as he steps closer. 

“You’ve been asleep for eight days.”

“ _Eight days?”_ I sit up and then gasp, falling back with a hand around my middle.

“You have several broken ribs.”

“How can I have slept for eight days? I need food. Water.” I’m panicking. I can’t believe I slept for eight days. 

Then again, if the pain in my ribs is this bad now, I can only imagine how bad it would have been those first couple days. 

“Your needs were tended to.”

He reaches my bed. His hand twitches towards me, but he holds it by his side. 

“You were very stupid.” His soft tone doesn’t match his words. He sounds more relieved than angry. “You could have been killed.” I look away, but he grasps my chin, forcing me to look at him. I swallow at the anger in his eyes. “And that would have been a mercy compared to what Snoke would have done to you.”

I shudder. 

“How did your mother know I needed saving?”

There’s a twitch under Kylo’s eye. He exhales sharply through his nose, reminding me of an angry bull. “You need rest.”

I shake my head. “No. Eight days is enough.”

He completely ignores me. “I’ll leave you to it.”

He turns and walks to the door, closing it behind him. 

I don’t hear the sound of the lock. 

I try again to sit up but gasp at the pain from my rips.

Falling back on my pillow, I think I hear a sigh before my eyelids droop back closed and everything goes black.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so much later than normal! I've been dealing with a flare in my chronic pain that is wreaking havoc on my hands. *sigh* Because of this, I didn't get the chapter to my betas in a timely manner, so please excuse any errors. 
> 
> On that note, I'm also going to be moving this fic to updating once a week, at least until this flare is back under control. It's been getting more difficult to work on a computer and holding a phone is actually worse. Once the pain is back under control, I'll move back to twice weekly. Thanks! :) 
> 
> So the next update will be next Monday.

When I open my eyes, bright sunlight is streaming through the open doors of the mezzanine. 

I lay there, unmoving as I try to remember how I got there. After a moment, the memories come flooding back. I squeeze my eyes shut, remembering the pain, the red-haired faerie, nearly drowning. 

My mind is clear,however, and I don’t feel any pain as I lay there. That’s an improvement at least. I lift a hand to my face and notice that the leaves are gone and my skin feels smooth, free of bruises, swelling, and scratches. My eyes move to my arm. There are no leaves there either. 

In fact, there aren’t any scratches or bruises anywhere, and even the little scars I collected over the years as a mechanic are missing. It’s as if I have brand new skin.

I sit up slowly, wincing as I wait for pain. When none comes, I sit completely up and take a quick survey of my body. 

Absolutely nothing hurts. My lungs are clear, my ribs don’t hurt, and I throw off the covers to confirm that the scratches on my legs are also gone. 

How long was I out?

My stomach grumbles, as if in answer to that question. 

I remember the unlocked door and look over, wondering if I dreamed it. I step out of bed, only then realizing I am no longer in my ruined dress, but a thin nightgown. I cringe at the thought of Kylo undressing me as I change into a dress. It reminds me a bit of Roman-style dresses, loosely fitted with a belt fastened around my waist, except that it also has sleeves, flowing down in a bell to my wrist.

Once dressed, I walk to the door and take a deep breath as I place my hand on the knob and twist. I don’t expect it to turn, but it does, the door clicking softly open. 

I descend the spiral staircase, my legs are shaking by the time I reach the bottom. I pause to catch my breath and make sure my legs aren’t going to buckle underneath me, keeping my hand on the wall for balance. 

My stomach grumbles again, louder this time. Taking a deep breath, I push off the wall and into the study. I stop at the fireplace, standing close to warm my feet on the stone floor in front of it. 

When I’m warm, I head out the door into the long hallway. Usually I’m walking with Kylo and don’t have a chance to explore the rooms on the way to the dining room. Now, however, I pause to look into rooms, happy to finally assuage my curiosity. There isn’t much exciting about them, but at least now I know what they are. 

I’m just starting to wonder if I’ll ever find the kitchen when the smell of baked bread wafts by. Following my nose, I head down a short flight of stairs into the kitchen. 

It’s not very large—though with only Kylo and myself here, I suppose it doesn’t need to be. There are several brick ovens on one side, and an enormous fireplace with a large pot hanging in the middle of it on the opposite side. In the middle of the room is a wooden table with someone working.

“Oh.” 

I blink stupidly at the faerie. Given that I haven’t seen or heard a single other soul here, I didn’t expect anyone to be here. Though, now I realize that’s dumb. Who else would be making our meals, and Kylo mentioned servants.

At the sound of my voice, he looks up from chopping, obviously not having heard me walk in and his eyes widen. 

“Oh my.”

“I’m sorry.” I turn to leave, feeling oddly flustered. 

“It’s alright,” he says, setting his knife down and wiping his hands on his apron. “How can I help you?”

I stop and turn back, my cheeks hot. “Oh. Um. I just woke up and was a bit hungry.”

He smiles at me. “Of course. I’ll make you something now.”

I shake my head, taking a step forward. “Oh, it’s fine. You don’t have to. I can just grab some bread or something.”

He ignores me, pulling out what looks like the makings for a grilled cheese. I watch him as he works, noting that he’s the most human-looking creature that I’ve seen here in Faerie. The only thing giving him away are his pointed ears. 

I shift, wringing my hands while he works. I want to break the awkward silence, but don’t have the faintest idea what to talk about.

He sets the grilled cheese on the table, pulling a stool over and motioning for me to sit.

“What’s your name?” I ask, picking up the sandwich.

He glances at me as he picks his knife back up and resumes chopping. “You may call me Mitaka.”

“Thank you, Mitaka.” I smile as I take a bite of my grilled cheese.

It’s delicious. The bread is perfectly toasted with a buttery flavor to it, and the cheese perfectly melted. Possibly the best grilled cheese I’ve ever eaten.

Mitaka blushes when I tell him so.

“How long have you been working for Kylo?” I ask. I’m hoping maybe he can give me some of the answers that Kylo keeps withholding. 

“Since before he was banished here,” Mitaka says, sliding the cut vegetables into a pot. 

I chew, considering that. “How long has he been here?”

Mitaka glances at me, looking uncomfortable. “A long time.”

When I don’t say anything, he adds, “I’m not sure how many years have passed outside of Faerie.”

“What did he do to get stuck here?”

Mitaka looks up, his eyes going wide. “Your Highness, my apologies. I did not see you there.”

I turn around and see Kylo standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. 

“What are you doing here?” he asks.

“My door was unlocked. I thought that meant I was free to go wherever.” My heart is pounding oddly and my cheeks feel hot as I hold up my grilled cheese. “I was hungry.”

“Dinner will be soon.” His eyes move over my shoulder, directing the statement to Mitaka. 

“Don’t blame him,” I say, “I came here planning to make myself food and he offered to do it instead.”

“He could have told you dinner was soon,” Kylo says, his eyes still on Mitaka and his voice sharp.

“And you could be nicer to your servant,” I say, crossing my arms and glaring. 

Kylo turns his weird eyes back to me. “Who are you to say what I should do with my own servant?”

“Right. I forgot I’m your prisoner.” I stand, glaring harder. I motion with one hand. “Well, go ahead. Snap me back to my cell.”

“You haven’t been in a cell in weeks.”

“Just because I’m in a proper bedroom doesn’t mean it’s not a cell.”

“The door was not locked.”

I blink at him, surprised. He raises his eyebrows, waiting for me to respond. 

“Why wasn’t it?” I finally ask. 

“Would you rather it be locked?”

“No,” I say, crossing my arms and shrugging, “but I just came back from running away.”

He snorts. “And I would hope you’ve learned your lesson.”

I laugh bitterly. “Well, I’ve learned that this place is at least safer than the rest of Faerie.”

An odd look crosses Kylo’s expression.

“How long did I sleep?” I ask, watching his expression.

“A week.”

I choke. “What? Another week?”

“Yes.”

“You mean I slept for basically two weeks straight?”

“Yes.”

I frown, putting a hand to my stomach. “How did my ribs heal so quickly?”

“The salves have properties that speed up healing.”

I don’t really know what else to say, so I return to my grilled cheese and wait for him to say something. 

After a long moment, he says, “Come,” turning in the doorway and gesturing for me to follow him. 

I turn to say thank you to Mitaka, but realize he’s not there. I wonder when he left and feel bad for not noticing. 

With a shrug, I turn back and follow Kylo. When I notice we’re not heading for the dining room, I break the silence. 

“Where are we going?”

“You wanted to know how I got here.” He answers without turning back to me.

I frown, confused. “How does where we’re going answer how you got here?”

“You’ll see.”

After a few more turns, we end up in a dark hallway. Kylo lights the sconces with a snap of his fingers and gestures towards the opposite wall. 

I stop, unsure at first of what I’m looking at. It’s a giant tapestry. The colors are muted, or perhaps faded with time, but the pictures are incredibly intricate. 

“What is this?” 

I run my fingers over the fabric, surprised at how soft it is to the touch. 

I look back at Kylo, who looks even more like a demon in the flickering light. His horns nearly touching the stone ceiling. His wings twitch, but he is completely still otherwise. 

If I didn’t know better, I’d say he looks nervous.

“This tells the story of my banishment.” 

I stare stupidly at him. Why the sudden change in secrecy? He’s always done his damnedest to avoid answering my questions. 

He clears his throat and walks to the end, pointing. “Here.”

When I step next to him, he takes a step back, I assume to give me space.

I avoid the urge to look back at him and turn my eyes to the beginning of the tapestry. It looks like Leia, with another vaguely familiar-looking faerie standing next to her. I frown, leaning closer. It takes a second for it to click. 

I look back at Kylo. “Is this you?”

He nods his head with a jerk, his lips pressed into a thin line. 

Turning back, I lean even closer to the tapestry, studying the details. Kylo doesn’t look completely different, but the glaring differences between his former and current appearance threw me off. There are no horns. No wings. His eyes are a rich brown. It’s hard to tell whether his teeth are pointed, but I’m betting not. 

Just like Mitaka, he looks almost human except for the pointed ears. 

Remembering this is the story of how Kylo got trapped here, I lean back to take in the whole picture. 

He is standing next to his mother, who is sitting on an elaborately carved wooden throne, receiving another faerie, who looks like a monarch as well. This must be the Unseelie King. He has a crown of gold, spikes sharp enough to kill along the front. He appears ancient, which is in itself strange, since everyone I’ve met so far has appeared young. His head is bald, and he has scarring all over his face. He’s wearing gold robes and a smile that sends a chill down my back. 

I take a step, moving along with the story. The next panel shows Kylo and the Unseelie King walking through a garden. There’s a smile on the King’s face, and Kylo looks like he’s ranting to the King, an angry expression on his face. I trail a finger along one of the flowers next to Kylo, half-surprised when all I feel is fabric. It’s amazing how realistic this tapestry is.

I step to the next panel. Kylo’s crown is on the ground in front of Leia, as if he had just thrown it there. I’m surprised at the look of anguish on Leia’s face, as if she’s pleading with him. I’m equally surprised by the hatred on Kylo’s face. The King stands next to Kylo, not even bothering to hide his gleeful look as he watches the scene. 

I’m so engrossed in the story now that I step to the next panel without realizing it. 

I gasp and recoil at the picture. It’s awful.

The King is seated high on a throne of gold. Kylo is laughing, a malicious gleam in his eyes. What made me gasp, however, is what he’s laughing at. There are dozens of people—they look human—writhing on the ground in agony, pixies clawing at their faces. Others are dancing on a bed of thorns, looking as if they’re in the midst of screaming as their feet bleed. Still others are hanging by their ankles, their faces purple as a group of faeries dance around them like they’re a maypole. 

I close my eyes, pressing the heels of my palm against my eyes, my heart pounding, feeling nauseated. Kylo’s malevolent glee feels burned into my retinas. 

Taking a deep breath, I force myself to open my eyes and step to the next panel—though I can guess where this is heading. Leia’s hands are raised, as if she’s performing a spell. The King looks angry. Kylo is writhing in agony on the ground in front of his mother. He looks like I know him now, the horns on his head, the bat wings on his back. 

I reach the last panel of the tapestry, which is just a picture of Kylo in the castle, surrounded by a thorny wall, all alone. I stare at it, feeling sick as the reality of what sort of person Kylo is crashes around my mind. 

“Are they human?” I whisper, my eyes moving back to the people being tortured.

A pause. 

“Yes.” 

There’s something in his tone that sounds like remorse, but I quickly tell myself not to project what I want to believe. Kylo has kept me prisoner for months. Just because he hasn’t tortured me as vilely as the people in the tapestry doesn’t mean he’s changed. 

I close my eyes. “Are you the one torturing them?”

“Yes.” His voice cracks on the word.

“Why?”

When he doesn’t respond, I turn to look at him. His expression is carefully neutral. 

“Why did you torture them?” I ask more forcefully. 

I don’t know why it’s so important, but it is. 

He still doesn’t answer, but his jaw moves, looking as if he’s chewing on his words. 

“Did you enjoy it?” 

I take a step closer, my anger making me bold. I’m probably being stupid, given his past, but his refusal to respond fuels my rage. 

“Answer me! Did you like torturing humans? Do you still want to? Are you going to torture me?”

I’m standing so close to him that I’m almost touching him, my head tilted back, glaring up at him. 

He raises his hand and before I can protest, I’m snapped back into my room. 

Asshole!

I run to the door, but it doesn’t move when I turn the handle. 

“Kylo!” I pound a fist on the door. “Let me out of here!”

I don’t really expect him to come let me out, but I’m too angry to be rational. I start pounding and kicking the door, screaming for him to release me. 

Eventually my anger fades, leaving behind the fear and sadness it had been masking.

I lean against the door, sliding down as tears leak out the side of my eyes, trailing down my face. 


	11. Chapter 11

Kylo never comes to get me for dinner that night. Instead, a plate of food appears in my room. 

Despite my anger and sadness, when I see the food, my stomach grumbles. It’s nothing fancy, just a bowl of soup and some bread, but it’s filling enough. 

It’s difficult getting to sleep that night. Possibly because of my two week nap, but most likely because I just found out that Kylo used to torture humans for fun. 

I can’t help think back over my time here, combing through my memories for signs of his cruelty that I had overlooked. He did refuse to feed me until I put on a dress, and he’s been plenty rude, snapping me everywhere, and kept me tied to my chair those first weeks.I also can’t forget that he kidnapped me and kept me in a cage.

Sighing, I turn to lie on my back, staring up at the dark stone ceiling. I mean, I’m definitely not excusing him for any of those things, but when compared to dancing on glass or getting scratched to death by pixies, a day without food and a cage that held everything I needed doesn’t sound that bad. All things considered, he hasn’t been overly cruel. 

I frown at the ceiling. It feels like I should be angrier than I am about all the things he’s done to me. Maybe it’s just because I nearly died in Faerie. Compared to that, anything would seem tame.

But why am I here? Why did he kidnap me? I shake my head, feeling like I’m still missing something, a key component to the story. If he hates humans and finds it fun to torture them, then why bring me here and do nothing? 

Also, does Leia mean to keep him here forever? Or does he have a way of breaking the spell?

I huff, turn back on my side, and stare out at the stars, trying to calm my racing mind. I marvel at how different the night sky looks. It’s probably the lack of city lights, but the stars look closer, and there are more of them than I’ve ever seen before. 

Eventually my eyes drift closed, despite my thoughts returning to the missing pieces of the puzzle that is Kylo.

* * *

I crack open my eyes when a beam of sunlight hits my eyelid. I don’t know how long I was asleep, but it doesn’t feel like very long. Knowing I’ll never be able to get back to sleep, I shove myself up and out of bed and get dressed. 

When I walk to the door, I expect it to be locked and am surprised to find it open. I head down the stairs, stepping lightly. 

I don’t really know what I’m going to say to Kylo when I see him. I’m not sure I even want to see him. Finding out what kind of person he is… I shudder, thinking of the kiss between us, of how safe I felt when he carried me up to my room when I was hurt. I get nauseous at the thought that I was starting to feel something for him. 

The room at the bottom of the stairs is empty. I pause to listen, but don’t hear movement anywhere in the castle. That doesn’t really mean anything, since the only people in this enormous place are me, Mitaka, and Kylo, but at least I know—or at least hope—that Kylo isn’t near. 

I retrace my steps from the day before and head to the kitchen. I’ll just ask Mitaka to make me something, or better yet, make it myself. It still feels a little weird being waited on. 

Mitaka is kneading dough when I enter the kitchen. He doesn’t see me at first, so I clear my throat. 

He smiles when he looks up. “Good morning. I trust you slept well?”

I try to smile, but my lips only twitch. “Yes.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” he says, wiping his hands on his apron. “Please, go to the dining room, and I’ll send up your breakfast.”

I shake my head. “No, that’s alright. I’ll eat here.”

Mitaka’s smile looks sad this time. “Please, it’s no trouble. Go to the dining room.”

I stare at him, then give him a once over to make sure he hasn’t been hurt by Kylo. I can read between the lines of what he’s saying. I don’t want him to get in trouble because of me, so I nod and turn to walk to the dining room.

When I reachit, I pause just outside the door, close my eyes, and take a deep breath, trying to prepare myself for seeing Kylo. I don’t know what I’m going to do when faced with him. Yell? Ignore him? I can’t just pretend I didn’t see what I saw. The man is a monster… Or was. I don’t know. There’s still the fact that he didn’t harm me when he had ample opportunity, confusing me. 

I open my eyes, square my shoulders, and lift my chin. I should at least look like I’m not scared of him. 

When I walk through the door, striding with confidence I don’t feel, I see he’s in his usual spot at the end of the table. It almost looks like he was waiting for me. He is sipping from a steaming mug, but his plate is empty. I wonder how long he’s been there. 

I walk to my usual spot at the opposite end of the table, but before I reach it he speaks.

“Please.” He gestures to the chair to his right. “Sit here.”

I swallow involuntarily, lick my lips, and force myself to meet his gaze. “I want to sit here.” 

Without waiting for his response, I sit in the chair, my hands on my lap, fidgeting. 

The food doesn’t appear. 

I clasp my hands tightly together, trying to stop the fidgeting. I need to look confident, act confident. I glance down. What is taking so long? It never takes more than a few moments for a plate of food to appear. 

As if he can read my mind, Kylo says, “I’ve instructed Mitaka to send your food to this chair. It won’t come until you sit in it.”

Grinding my teeth together, I glare at him. What game is he playing? He spent weeks ignoring me, then he kisses me out of the blue, and now he wants to get to know me? I already know it’s pointless to argue, so I stand, the chair scraping across the stone floor. He’ll probably just snap me where he wants me if I don’t go myself, and I’d like to keep some dignity. 

I sit in the chair next to his, not looking at him. The food appears, and I tuck in, completely ignoring him. It’s delicious, of course, like everything Mitaka makes. To be honest, if I hadn’t seen him chopping food and kneading dough, I would have thought he used magic to cook. 

I shovel the food in, bite after bite. I guess I’m still hungry from not eating for two weeks. Though, I wasn’t dehydrated, so they must have been giving me food and water. I don’t think they have bags of saline lying around, so Kylo probably snapped his fingers or something. 

Whatever. I don’t care what he did. 

“You don’t have to eat so fast,” Kylo says. “The food isn’t going to disappear.”

I ignore him, continuing to shovel the food in, chewing a few times and swallowing. When the plate is empty, it refills. I’m not even sure I’m still hungry, but I’m trying to delay speaking to Kylo for as long as possible. I need to sort out my feelings regarding his previous favorite pastime of torturing humans. 

Kylo appears to be waiting for me to speak since he says nothing else, watching me eat in silence. Every couple minutes I hear a slurp as he takes a sip from his mug. 

If there was a clock, I’d probably hear it ticking. 

When the second plate of food is gone, no more food appears. I guess Mitaka can tell, however that is, that I feel like I’m about to throw up from eating so much. 

I set my fork down and am just about to stand when Kylo finally speaks again.

“I trust you slept well?”

I look up at him, glaring. “Why did you lock me in my room?”

He blinks once, looking surprised. “I did it for your protection.”

I scoff. “My protection? From who? You?” 

His jaw ticks. “From yourself.”

I lean back and cross my arms. “Myself?” I snort. “Yeah, because I’m the one here who’s dangerous.”

“You’re the one who ran away and nearly got herself killed.” His voice is sharp, as if he’s angry. What the hell does he have to be angry over?

“Yeah,” I shoot back, seething, “because I knew you were dangerous and wanted to take my chances with the rest of Faerie.”

“And now you know there are more dangerous creatures than me.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I say. “I think your past speaks for itself.”

His nostrils flare, and his eyes flash. A spike of fear runs through me. I’ve gotten so used to his demonic appearance that I sometimes don’t even notice it. Other times, like now, I’m reminded of just how horrific and dangerous he looks. 

“Why did you do it?” I ask. He’s already angry, so I might as well get some answers. “Why did you torture those people?”

He looks away. 

“Don’t snap me back to my room,” I warn when he doesn’t answer.

He chuckles, humorlessly. “I wasn’t planning to.”

“Then answer the question.”

He stays silent for so long that I think he isn’t going to answer.

“I don’t know what answer you’re looking for,” he says, looking back at me. “Do you think any answer I give you will be satisfactory?”

I shake my head. “No. But I have a right to know.”

“Why?”

His face is blank, looking almost like he’s purposely trying to keep me from figuring out his feelings. 

“What?” I shake my head, confused.

“Why do you have a right to know?”

That catches me off guard. “Because…” I don’t know how to answer the question. I exhale. “Because I’m stuck here with you indefinitely, and I deserve to know what sort of creature I’m stuck with.”

Kylo cocks his head. “What difference will it make, knowing?”

“Why won’t you answer the question?” 

“Why won’t you?”

I curse, shoving away from the table. I’m halfway to the door when he finally answers. 

“I did it because humans are less than me.”

I stop in my tracks, slowly turning to face him. I don’t know why, but his answer hurts. I can feel tears pricking behind my eyes, but refuse to let him see my pain. 

He stands. “I did it,” he takes slow, purposeful steps toward me, “because it was fun, because it made me feel powerful to watch them struggle to get free, because I’m better than they are.”

He stops in front of me, so close I have to tilt my head back. My heart is beating hard, anger and fear pumping adrenaline through my veins. 

“I did it because I could.”

His words stab me through the heart like a knife. Which is stupid. What did I expect him to say? I saw the pictures myself. I already knew he is—or was—an awful person, who did awful things. 

A voice in the back of my head tries to speak up, saying I know why it hurts, but I shove it away. 

Kylo watches me, waiting for me to respond. 

“You’re a monster.” My words come out choked.

He leans closer, looking between my eyes. “Yes, I am.”

There’s something in his expression that I can’t identify. I frown; his answer confuses me. After a moment, I turn, striding out the door out the door. “I need to get some air. Leave me alone.”

He doesn’t respond, but he also doesn’t follow me. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments and love. My hands are starting to get better, so hopefully I'll be able to get back to twice a week next month. Chronic pain is so annoying and unpredictable. 0/10 would not reccomend.

I hurry out the front door, my heart pounding, and turn left. A lap or two around the castle will help me clear my head. Not to mention, I’ve been sleeping for two weeks and can definitely use the exercise. 

My mind races as I turn the conversation over in my head, trying to figure out how I feel—aside from nauseated.

What really bothers me is that I nearly fell for my captor. I may not have known exactly what his crimes were, how, or why, he was cursed to remain here, but I knew what he did to me. He had manipulated me, kept me caged, and was generally an asshole to me, and yet, I let him kiss me. Even worse, I kissed him back. And after I was rescued, I actually felt safe in his arms. 

I press the back of my hand against my mouth as my stomach twists. I can’t believe I allowed myself to forget who and what he is. He’s not even human. Hell, he looks like a demon from hell, and yet, I began to have feelings for him.

Hot tears slide down my cheeks.

Betrayal. That’s what I really feel. That’s why it hurts so much. I chose to believe his appearance didn’t reflect the character within.

“I’m not so sure that such a brisk walk is a good idea so soon after healing.”

I whip around, gasping with a hand on my chest. Leia walks towards me, her hands clasped in front of her, the crystals in her crown sparkling in the sunlight. It’s still a shock to realize this young-looking, beautiful woman is Kylo’s mother. 

“What are you doing here?” 

I realize after the words are out of my mouth that that’s a rude greeting, and I feel my cheeks heat.

Leia raises her eyebrows, her tone sounding almost patronizing when she answers. 

“I came to check on you, of course.”

I frown and shake my head. “Why would you check on me?”

Leia smiles and a shiver runs down my spine. Something about her smile unnerves me. “Let’s just say I have a vested interest in your well-being.”

I swallow, my voice shaky. “What does that mean?”

She looks me over, her eyes traveling from the top of my head to my toes. “Well, it looks like you didn’t sustain any permanent injuries.”

The tapestry suddenly pops into my head, and I remember that Leia is the one who cursed Kylo. Maybe she’ll give me answers. 

“Why did you curse Kylo?”

Leia raises her eyebrows and walks past me. I turn to watch her, annoyed that she’s not answering. Of course. Why would a faerie answer a lowly human’s questions? I can taste the bitterness on my tongue, Kylo’s words playing through my head. He thinks he’s better than humans. Leia probably feels the same way. 

She pauses and looks back. “Walk with me.”

I narrow my eyes. “Only if you answer my questions.”

She nods once. “If it’s within my power to do so, I shall.”

That doesn’t sound quite like a yes, but I walk with her anyway.

“Why did you curse Kylo?” I ask again.

Leia sighs and clasps her hands in front of her. “I did not like what my son had become.”

I nod, staring at the ground. “Do—” I bite my lip, worried about the answer to my question.

“Whatever it is, you’ll feel better if you ask it,” Leia says. Her kind tone throws me off. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost call it motherly. I barely stop myself from snorting.

I take a deep breath. “Do you allow humans to be tortured in the Seelie Court?”

There’s a long pause. My heart sinks as her silence tells me the answer.

“We don’t treat humans the way they do in the Unseelie Court,” she finally says.

I look at her. “That’s not an answer.”

The corners of her lips turn up. “I see you’re learning to listen to the subtle art of avoidance.” Her eyes look far away when she continues. “It must be so much easier to lie whenever you desire.”

I huff. “Yeah, well, just because humans can lie, doesn’t mean we do, or that we think it’s ok.”

I reach out and pull her to a stop. She looks down at my hand with raised eyebrows. I snatch my hand back, a flush climbing up my face.

“Just tell me the truth. Do you torture humans in the Seelie Court?”

She rubs a hand down the arm I touched, smoothing the sleeve of her dress. “Yes.”

Her answer surprises me. “Oh.”

I start walking again, faster than before, fidgeting with my fingers. So there really are no good faeries.

Leia catches up with me, but her tone sounds unbothered when she speaks. “We do not harm humans the way the Unseelie do.”

I bark a laugh. “And that makes it ok?”

“Tell me. Have you ever held a string for a cat to play with?”

I whip my head around, indignation burning in my chest. “Humans are not cats. We’re not pets.”

Leia’s lips turn up. “Aren’t you?”

It takes everything in me to resist the urge to slap the smile off her face. “No! We’re not!”

Betrayal winds through me again. I was so stupid. I thought that Leia cursed her son because she didn’t approve of his behavior toward humans, but clearly I was wrong.

“If you’ll recall,” Leia said, laying a hand on my shoulder and pulling me to a stop this time. “I told you, I did not like what my son had become. I do not approve of the way humans are treated in the Unseelie Court, and I do not allow such behavior in mine.”

I cross my arms. “But you still kidnap and play with humans.”

She shrugs. “We have our fun and then we send them on their way. They are not harmed.”

“Why curse Kylo when he was just doing what all faeries do? Why do you care if he makes them dance on glass instead of—” I make air quotes, “‘dangling a string in front of them.’”

Leia tilts her head, giving me a calculated look. 

“Snoke, the King of the Unseelie, is a cruel and vindictive person.” 

She starts walking again, and I sigh as I follow her. 

“My Kylo was a sensitive child… too sensitive, really.”  She glances at me. “His father was human, you know.”

I blink at her, mouth open. Kylo’s half human? I didn’t expect that. “Then why would he want to torture humans?”

She sighs. “His father—Han—left when he was still a child. I don’t think he ever quite got over it.”

I look at my feet as we walk, still stunned. 

“Why did Han leave?” I ask. I know I’m prying, but don’t really care. This is information I need to understand Kylo—to understand myself really. Maybe there is something that Leia can tell me to make me feel better for being attracted to a monster. 

Leia chuckles. “Truthfully, I gave him no choice. I loved Han, in my own way, but we were a terrible match.” 

We walk in silence for a few moments, but before I can ask another question she says, “Humans don’t age here the way they do on earth.” 

“What?”

As I blink at her with my mouth open, she adds, “Oh they age, but not so quickly. Han was here a hundred years and looked as if less than half that time had passed. For many years things were fine, but after Kylo was born, Han voiced his concerns with how I ran my court. He didn’t like how humans are treated, and would often break up the fun others were having. I heard of more than one plot against his life, so I told him he was no longer welcome and threw him out of Faerie.”

I frown. “Didn’t you tell Kylo the truth?”

Leia laughs. “I could hardly have my own child hate me, now could I?”

“So, you’d rather he hate his father and become a monster who tortures humans?” I don’t know why, but her answer angers me. It isn’t fair to let Kylo believe his father abandoned him. 

“Of course not,” she says, sounding exasperated. “That is why I cursed him.”

I rub my forehead. I feel like every time I get an answer, I end up with three more questions. “Why curse your own son instead of just taking him back to the Seelie Court.”

“I should think that would be obvious,” she says. “He would have gone back to Snoke the first chance he got.”

I digest this, mildly annoyed that it makes sense. “Still, it seems like a weird way to say you love your kid, to turn them into a monster and confine them to a castle.”

She shrugs. “When you’re as long-lived as we are, what is a few hundred years in a castle to save your soul?”

“Hmm.” She has a point. Still… seems weird. “So there’s a way to break the curse?”

Leia laughs. “Of course.”

“How does he do it?” I ask.

Leia smiles, an odd gleam in her eyes. “That, I can’t tell you.”

I frown. “Why not?”

“I wrote that into the terms of the curse.”

“You wrote into the terms of a curse you made a few hundred years ago that you can’t tell me?”

She chuckles. “Well, not you of course, but whichever human ended up here.”

I narrow my eyes. I feel like she’s telling me something about the terms, and I just need to figure out what. “So, it involves a human?”

She smiles but says nothing. 

“Ok…” I stare down at my hands. “So Kylo trapped me here, even though he hates humans, because I am somehow part of how he breaks his curse?”

She laughs again. “Oh no, dear. Kylo didn’t trap you here.”

I frown. “What?” I’m confused. “Well, I mean, I can leave the castle, sure, but I can’t get home from Faerie by myself right?”

She nods once.

“So then, I’m trapped here.” I cross my arms, raising my eyebrows.

“No. I did not mean that you weren’t trapped in Faerie. I meant that Kylo did not trap you.”

I blink at her. “Then who did?”

Something that looks like glee passes through her eyes. “Well, I should think it’s obvious that it was me.”

I come to a halt, shocked. “ _ You? _ ”

She stops as well, turning to me with an unruffled expression.

“Why?” I ask. This changes things. I don’t really know how yet, but it does.

“I grew weary of waiting for him to act.”

I shake my head. “Back up. So, he could have trapped a human at any time?”

She nods. “Yes.”

“But he didn’t?” 

She nods again. 

“Even though a human is the key to his freedom?

“Yes, dear.” She sighs. “I grow weary of my son’s absence, so I decided to help him. Give him a bit of a nudge, if you will.”

I think back to the night I ended up here, following a will-o-the-wisp to a faerie ring. “The wisp was you?”

She nods. 

“Ok,” I say, running my hands through my hair, “tell me how to help him get his freedom, so I can leave.”

“I can’t do that, I’m afraid.”

I throw up my hands. Having a conversation with a faerie is so frustrating. “Why not?”

I already know what she’s going to say when she says it. “The terms of the curse forbid it.”

“So what? I’m the key to freeing him, but I can’t know how to do it?”

She smiles. “There. I knew you were a smart girl.”

I make a noise of frustration. “That is so stupid! I could be here for god knows how long.”

Leia shrugs. “I doubt it will take that long.”

I narrow my eyes. “Why do you think that?”

She smiles but doesn’t answer. Right. The terms of the curse. 

“This curse is stupid, by the way,” I say.

She shrugs again. “Perhaps. Hopefully your mind will change once the curse is broken.”

I stare at her, just barely resisting the urge to start kicking things. 

We reach the front of the castle. She walks toward the archway, even though I’m pretty sure she could just pop away if she wanted.

“I really should be going,” she says, “now that I’m satisfied that you aren’t permanently injured from your ordeal.”

I follow her. “Wait! Please, just let me go home. I know you can send me back if you really wanted to.”

She nods. “Yes, I could. But that would set things back considerably.”

Leia walks through the archway, almost like a ghost, her clothing passing through the thorns without so much as a snag. 

I stop, having no desire to go back out into Faerie. “Please. I didn’t ask for this, and I don’t know how to help.”

She turns, smiling. “Just keep being your… charming self.”

I shake my head. “What does that even mean?”

Her smile widens. “Farewell, for now.”

Before I can protest anymore, she’s gone, popping out of sight in the blink of an eye. 


	13. Chapter 13

I wander back into the castle, grateful when Kylo doesn’t appear, and up the winding stairs to my room, my mind racing. I need to figure out how to escape from this place and what I need to do to accomplish it. 

I pace back and forth across the room, biting my thumbnail as I think. Somehow, I have the power to free myself. I can’t help but feel like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, learning she just had to click her heels three times and say, “There’s no place like home.”

Obviously, me being human is a key part of this. He used to torture humans for fun, and Leia said she didn’t like what he had become. Maybe Kylo has to like me. Or maybe I have to like him… or even worse, maybe we have to fall in love.

I scoff. After everything I’ve learned, I don’t know if I can like him, let alone love him. Ignoring the voice in my head that tells me I’m lying to myself, I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. If I’m right about this, then I’m going to have to actually spend time with him, get to know him, and—I shudder—let him get to know me. 

Let's also not forget the fact that he tortured people, that he did it for the pure enjoyment of it, because he thought he was better than them. I think of Leia’s analogy of the cat with the string. Even if the fae consider humans as pets, it’s not ok to torture a pet. I rub a hand on my chest. It feels tight, probably from all the tension of the past few months. 

I take a deep breath and hold it. I just need to ask him to speak straight with me, to find out whether he still hates humans, whether he’d torture them if he had the opportunity. I can’t count myself since he knows I’m the key to his freedom. However, if another human stumbled into this castle, would he entertain himself with their torture? 

A headache forms at the base of my neck. 

I release the air in my lungs. I’m going to have to force myself to get along with Kylo, to become friends or whatever. And if more than friendship is required… well, I’ll just worry about that when the time comes.

First things first, I need to figure out where he’s at all day. I’ve explored several rooms and haven’t run across him, but there is still a lot of the castle left. 

Feeling marginally better now that I have a plan, I head back down the stairs. I figure the best way to start is to comb through each of the rooms on the way to the kitchen. I’ve at least peeked into most of them, but haven’t examined them closely. I wouldn’t put it past Kylo to have some sort of secret study. He’s extra like that. 

I don’t find anything, however, and end up at the kitchen. There isn’t much to see, just a doorway leading out to a little fenced in vegetable garden, so I double back until I find another hallway to walk down. 

The first several rooms are also a bust. I can’t help but wonder why there are so many rooms when it’s only Kylo and Mitaka who live here. Kylo clearly doesn’t have anyone visit him… at least, I’m pretty sure. I’ve seen no one but Leia in the several months I’ve been here. 

I open the last door in the hallway and gasp, my eyes widening. It’s a library. A very _large_ library. I tilt my head back, gazing up at the three stories of shelves, all crammed full of books. 

Momentarily forgetting the reason I’m exploring, I walk along one shelf, trailing my fingers on the spines. They look old, some in languages that are definitely not English, not any language that I recognize, in fact. 

There’s a spiral staircase on either side of the room leading up to the second and third stories. I climb one, pausing at the second story to read the spines. These books appear newer than the ones on the bottom, and I see some that I think are in Old English. 

I go back to the spiral staircase and climb to the third story. These are definitely newer, some even from the twentieth century. Frowning, I wonder how he gets new books? I doubt Amazon ships to Faerie. I look around the expansive room from my high vantage point. There’s no denying that this room is amazing, whether you are a reader or not. 

Turning back to the books, I pause when my fingers trail across a spine that feels different than the rest. I lean down to examine the spine. It almost looks like it’s made of wood. I try to pull it out, but it catches on something. I gasp when the entire bookcase moves inward. 

It’s a door. 

My heart rate picks up. I mean… that’s pretty cool. 

I bite my lip, considering. On the one hand, if I go up to a room that is clearly meant to be secret and find him there, it’s likely he’ll be angry. On the other hand, how can I free myself if I don’t know where to find him? I can just sneak up, confirm that he’s there, and then wait for him in the library until he comes out for lunch.

Nodding to myself, I peek my head through the doorway. There’s a winding staircase, similar to the one to my room. Pulling my skirts up, I pad silently up the stairs. I resist the urge to sigh when there’s a door at the top. I knew it was likely but had still hoped there wouldn’t be. 

I chew on my lip as I what to do. Maybe I can just peek through the keyhole, confirm he’s there, and then leave. 

Decision made, I nod and tiptoe up the last few steps. I peer through the keyhole and gasp when I see an eye staring back at me. I jerk back, fingers scrabbling for a hold on the stone as I tip backward. 

The door slams open and Kylo grabs my wrist, stopping me from tumbling backward down the stairs. I cringe away from the rage on his face. 

He speaks through bared teeth. “What are you doing here? How did you find this place?”

My heart is beating wildly. If it wouldn’t mean falling down the stairs, I would yank my wrist out of his hand. 

“I—I was exploring and found the library.”

“Did Mitaka tell you where to find me?”

I shake my head. “No. I didn’t talk to Mitaka.” 

He narrows his eyes, clearly not believing me. 

“I swear!” My voice is high pitched, almost piercing. “I didn’t even go to the kitchens. I haven’t seen Mitaka since he sent me to the dining room this morning for breakfast.”

He sneers. “And you just so happened to find the one book in an entire library that leads here? I would think since you can lie, you would at least come up with a better story.”

I shake my head. “It was a coincidence. I—I was looking for you, but I didn’t know you were in a secret room in the library.” I’m talking so fast at this point it’s amazing he can even follow what I’m saying. “I was walking with my fingers on the spines and noticed one that felt different. Like wood. Please. Please, I didn’t know.”

I clamp my mouth shut to keep from pleading more. He considers me through his narrowed eyes, his jaw ticking, mouth moving like he’s chewing on words. 

Saying nothing, he brushes past me and yanks me down the stairs. Once we’re back to the library, he pulls me close, his arm around my waist as he jumps over the ledge, using his wings to keep us from plummeting too quickly. 

As soon as we land, he immediately lets go, shoving me away from him. I stumble and nearly fall on my ass.

“Don’t ever come up there again.”

He jumps, flying back through the door and slamming it shut.

* * *

I walk to the study near my room in a daze and sit in front of the fireplace, watching the flames flicker and wondering why Kylo was so angry. I mean, sure, I kind of invaded his privacy, but why get so upset? 

Maybe it was just the surprise. I mean, even I have to admit that it does seem far-fetched that I would happen upon the one book I needed in a library that large. 

Still, it seems like a weirdly violent reaction to me finding a room. 

Maybe he’s hiding something. I nod to myself; that has to be it. Something he doesn’t want me to see. Why? I sigh, flopping back in the (very comfortable) chair. So many questions that need answering. 

My stomach growls and I realize it’s probably dinnertime. I didn’t even notice when lunch came and went. 

I get up, a knot of unease in my stomach. I don’t know how Kylo’s going to act when he sees me. Is he still angry? Will he pretend nothing happened? 

When I reach the dining room, I take a deep breath and walk in with my shoulders back and head held high. I stop in my tracks, mouth open when I see he’s not there.

I stare at his chair, trying to figure out what to do. I’m not sure I’m ready to go back up to that room to demand he see me. Who knows how he’ll react. However, I won’t be able to break the curse if I never see him.

Sighing, I decide I’d rather at least eat before confronting him. He could lock me back in my room, and I’d rather have a full stomach than an empty one. 

The food is delicious, of course, and I scarf it down. The nervousness prevents me from eating a second helping, however. Mitaka obviously knows, because the plate doesn’t refill, although _how_ he knows is still a mystery to me.

Staring at nothing for a few minutes, I gather my nerves. I remind myself that Kylo hasn’t harmed me yet, and in fact healed me when I was seriously injured. 

I take a deep breath and push away from the table.

It doesn’t take me long to find the library again. Now that I’ve started exploring the castle, I’ve realized that it’s actually pretty simply laid out. 

I climb the spiral staircase to the third story. I’m not completely sure where the fake book is, so I trail my fingers along the spines again until I feel it. I pull the book and walk through the doorway. 

Trepidation roots me to the spot. He told me not to come back here. Maybe if I announced myself, he won’t feel like I’m intruding on his privacy. 

“Kylo?”

He doesn’t answer.

I take a couple uncertain steps up the stairs, one hand on the stone wall for balance, and wonder if he didn’t hear me or if he’s ignoring me. 

“Kylo?” I say, raising my voice. 

When he still doesn’t answer, I consider just turning around and leaving. I’ve just turned around when I hear the door open. 

“What?” His voice is sharp, irritated. 

I swallow and take several more steps up, the doorway—and Kylo in it—coming into view. Relief rushes through me when I see he’s not angry. He looks more like he’s annoyed at being interrupted. 

I gather my courage and lift my chin. “You weren’t at dinner.”

“An astute observation.” His voice is flat. 

I take a couple more steps, refusing to let myself be intimidated. 

“Your mother gave me a lot to think about,” I say, stopping two steps away from him. 

He looks down at me, huffing a laugh. 

“I’m sure she did.”

I ignore his comment. “She won’t tell me how to free you or myself, but she made it pretty clear that I’m the key to our freedom. I’m pretty sure it involves us spending more time together.”

Kylo’s face is blank when he responds. “So, you think if we spend an allotted amount of time together, then the curse will be broken?”

I roll my eyes. “No. I think feelings are involved.” 

Despite knowing I have nothing to be embarrassed about, it feel like I’m putting myself out there and my cheeks heat. 

“Do you?” Kylo crosses his arms. 

I take a deep breath and exhale through my nose. 

“Yes. And if I’m right, then we have to spend more time together than just breakfast and dinner.”

Kylo stares at me for so long I start to fidget. I lick my dry lips as I watch him war with himself over something. Probably whether he can stand to spend time with a human.

Eventually, he nods. “Fine.”

I let out a breath I wasn’t aware I was holding and start to ascend the steps, but he grabs my arm to stop me. 

“No,” he says, his grip tight and eyes flashing. “This room is off limits.”

I can’t help myself. “Why?”

He squeezes past me and pulls me down the stairs again.

“It’s my private space, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“What do you need a private space for? You’ve spent who knows how long here with just Mitaka. The whole castle is your private space.”

He whips around, his eyes flashing, and I cower back. 

“Promise me you won’t go in there.” His voice is soft, but the look in his eyes terrifies me, so I nod. 

He continues down the stairs, and I yank my arm from his grasp. 

“I can walk down the stairs, thanks.”

He doesn’t respond, walking out the secret doorway and waiting for me to follow before closing it firmly behind us.


	14. Chapter 14

“What did you have in mind, then?” Kylo asks, his voice dull as we walk through the doorway, the bookcase closing behind us.

I shrug. “I don’t know. I guess I thought we should talk more. Maybe—” my throat tightens and I cough to clear it. “Maybe we can get to know one another better. I don’t really know much about you.”

“You know all you need to know.”

I roll my eyes and start down the spiral staircase. Kylo leaps over the railing and sails down on his wings. He turns and watches me descend with crossed arms. I don’t know why, but it irritates me, like he’s deliberately showing off, trying to prove that he’s better than me. 

When I reach the last step, I pause, unsure. 

“What now?” he asks, echoing the question in my own head. 

I sigh again, rubbing my forehead. “This won’t work if I have to do everything.”

He raises his eyebrows. “This won’t work even if you don’t do everything.”

“Why?” A flash of anger bursts through me. “Because I’m not good enough for you?”

He doesn’t answer, looking away. 

I throw up my hands. “Forget it. Never mind.” I walk around him, anger and—if I’m honest with myself—humiliation making me flush.

He grabs my arm. “Wait.”

I glare at him and try to yank my arm free, but his grasp is too tight. 

“Let me go” I say through my teeth. 

He doesn’t respond. His eyes look unfocused as he stares down. I swallow hard at the sudden flash of heat that moves from the tips of my fingers to the tips of my toes as he leans closer. My mouth goes dry, and I unconsciously lick my lips. 

When I realize what I’m doing, I yank harder, suddenly desperate for space. My heart is beating so hard, I’m surprised he can’t see it, like some kind of cartoon. 

“Let. Me. Go.”

He blinks rapidly, leaning back, and lets go of my arm. 

I immediately turn and hurry away, taking long strides to help burn off my sudden restless energy. What was that? What just happened? Was he going to kiss me again? 

A shiver runs down my spine and my lips tingle. I press them firmly together and tell myself the shiver was revulsion.

I gasp when Kylo lands in front of me and I nearly collide with his chest. 

He clears his throat. “Please, wait.”

I cross my arms, my fingers digging into my arms, and raise my eyebrows. “What?”

He swallows. “You’re right. We should spend time together.”

“Ok.”

I wait for him to go on. Ball’s in his court.

He holds out his elbow. “Walk with me?”

I look at it and then back at him, snorting. Does he think we’re in some Jane Austen novel or something? His jaw ticks, but he lowers his arm before turning and walking away. He doesn’t even look back to see if I’m following. I hurry after him, having to skip to keep up with his long strides. 

“Where are we going?” I ask.

His words are clipped and he doesn’t look back when he speaks. “I want to show you something.” 

I wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t. We walk toward the kitchen, passing a surprised Mitaka as Kylo leads me out the back doorway. 

I frown when I see him heading toward a hedge maze.

“That wasn’t here before.”

He doesn’t say anything. I jog to catch up with him, yanking his sleeve to pull him to a stop at the entrance of the maze. 

“I walked this way with Leia this morning. This wasn’t here.”

He looks down at me with an neutral expression. “I kept it hidden.”

I shake my head. “Why?”

He exhales through his nose. “I like to come here to think. It’s… private.”

Crossing my arms, I raise my eyebrows at him. “Who do you need privacy from?”

He gestures through the entrance, ignoring my question. “You wanted to know more about me.”

I consider turning back around. Something about the hedges, which are taller than Kylo, makes me nervous. What if he takes me in there and then leaves me? I’ve learned my lesson about Faerie. Nothing is nice here. 

“I won’t let harm come to you,” he says, his voice soft. 

His words irritate me. I hate feeling like a damsel in distress. I’ve taken care of myself my whole life, and being reminded that I can’t do that in Faerie rankles. 

I stalk through the entrance, stopping just inside, and wait for him. I feel the ghost of a hand on my back as he stops next to me and nods to the left. 

We walk side by side in silence for several minutes. Finally, I remind myself of the reason I’m spending time with him in the first place and make an attempt at conversation. 

“How old are you?”

He lifts a shoulder. “Old.”

“Well, I’m twenty-five, so forty is old to me.”

“I’m older than forty.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I figured that much out myself, thanks.”

The corner of his mouth twitches. He looks away, walking with his hand clasped behind his back and underneath his wings. 

We walk a few more moments before I say, “Just give me a ballpark.”

“I stopped counting long ago.”

“So,” I say, trying to hide how much that answer freaks me out. I mean, I know he’s got to be centuries old, but something about hearing it put that way makes it seem even older. “At least a hundred then.”

“Time is not measured the same in Faerie.”

I nod once. “Yeah. You said that before. Does that mean you don’t have years and stuff?”

“We count time as humans do, but since time flows differently, I can’t give you an accurate number relative to your years on Earth.” He shrugs. “Counting years means little when you have an infinite supply.”

“So you can’t die?”

“No.”

“Huh.” I look at my feet, trying to digest the thought of living forever.

He stops, startling me by putting a hand on my shoulder. “You misunderstand. We are long-lived, but we can die.”

I blink at him, awareness of his hand on my shoulder making it difficult to think about his words. After several moments, I shrug off his hand and start walking again, taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart. 

“How often do faeries die then?”

“You’ve seen what Faerie is like, though there is some advantage to being one of the High Fae. The lesser faeries die with some frequency.”

I frown, fidgeting with my fingers. “The High Fae?” 

“The High Fae are those like my mother and myself. We’re those that are closest in appearance to humans.”

I think for a minute. “So, let me get this straight. The faeries that don’t look like humans are called ‘lesser?’” I snort. “Man, you guys are hypocrites.”

Kylo frowns back at me. “How so?”

I snort. “Where do I start? You hate humans, torture us, making us entertain you, yet within your own society, those of you who look human are considered better than the rest.”

He doesn’t respond, surprising me. We walk in silence for several minutes. I keep expecting him to try to defend himself, but he never does. 

Interesting.

“Where exactly  _ is _ Faerie?” I finally ask, breaking the silence. 

“Between,” Kylo replies, his voice flat. 

I shake my head. “What does that mean?”

“We are between realms.”

“Between realms.”

“Yes.”

I sigh loudly, annoyed at his clipped answers. “What realms?”

He glances at me as we turn a corner. Only then do I realize I haven’t been paying attention to where we’ve been walking. I swallow, anxiety at the thought of being left in the maze by Kylo spiking. 

He doesn’t seem to notice my anxiousness, answering my question by holding his hands up, laying his right hand a couple centimeters above the left. 

“There are many realms, each stacked on one another. Faerie is in the space between them.”

I squint at his hands. I think I get it, but I was more interested in how engines worked in school. Theoretical physics wasn’t exactly my forte.

“Ok.” I take a breath and slowly exhale. “That would explain why everyone keeps telling me I can’t get home from here by myself.”

Kylo nods and returns to walking. 

“So, if there are many realms, are there also many Faeries?”

Kylo shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“So I guess time moves differently here because we’re not actually on Earth.”

Kylo nods. “Yes.”

I look up at the sky, free of clouds. “Do you have seasons?” I look back at him. “I’ve been here for a few months, and the weather hasn’t changed. It hasn’t rained or snowed. I don’t even think there’s been a cloudy day.”

He nods. “Yes, though seasons also move differently here than on Earth.”

My head is starting to hurt thinking about all the physics involved here. “You said you count time. The sun rises and sets. Are days the same length of time relative to Earth? Twenty-four hours in a day?”

“More or less. The planet of Faerie rotates as the Earth in your realm does. Humans measure years based on seasons, the rotation of the earth around the sun, yes?”

I nod, narrowing my eyes as I listen, trying to follow.

“The sun rises and sets here, but years are much longer than on Earth. And our time is not running at the same speed as Earth.”

I shake my head, rubbing my temple. “I think I’ve had enough physics for the day. Time is different here, and you don’t keep track of how old you are because you live forever. Got it.”

We walk again in silence as I think through everything he just said. 

“So, I must seem like a child to you.” 

I don’t even realize I’ve spoken out loud until he responds. 

“I can see you’re not a child, but yes, you are very young.”

I glance at him. He’s frowning, looking ahead with a faraway look in his eyes. I don’t even notice that we’ve reached the center of the maze until we come to a stop. 

Look around, my breath catches in my throat. The sun has almost completely set during our walk, and the twilight air looks like it’s glowing. There’s a pool in front of us, water bubbling up from a small stream on one end. I idly wonder if it’s the same stream that ran through my cell. 

The water also looks like it’s glowing. I take a step closer, squatting at the edge of the pool to get a closer look. I see eyes staring back at me, and shudder. They look friendly, unlike the eyes of the sprites who laughed at me as I drowned myself, but still very unnerving. 

My mouth pops open when I realize they’re mermaids, a humanoid upper body and a fishtail for the lower. Their fins seem almost iridescent in the light of the water. 

The pool looks incredibly deep—the glowing water disappearing into darkness—considering it can’t be more than ten meters across. 

I look up at Kylo, finding him watching me. 

“What makes it glow?”

“Things smaller than I can see,” he says. 

I nod, reaching a hand out. I pause before scooping it up, remembering the last time I started scooping water. 

“It’s ok,” he says, as if he can read my mind. “The water is not enchanted.”

I look back at him, and he nods. I gently scoop up the water, watching it glitter in my palm as it drips away. 

“Must be some sort of plankton,” I say. “We have them on Earth. They make the ocean look like it’s glowing.”

I look across the water. Little lights in every color of the rainbow are sliding across the surface of the water. Probably tiny pixies. I sit down, tucking my legs underneath me, and watch the water sparkle and swirl as the pixies skate across the surface. 

I look up at Kylo, who is still standing and watching me. “I can see why you like it here.”

He holds out his hand. “Come.”

I stare at it for a beat before grasping it. As he pulls me up, a strange, almost electric current runs up my arm at the contact. I bite my lip as goosebumps break out all over my arm. 

I unconsciously lick my lips, my kiss with Kylo coming unbidden to my mind. When I look up at him, my stomach flips at the look in his eyes. I think he’s remembering the same thing. His thumb gently brushes the back of my hand. My mouth parts, and it’s suddenly hard to breathe. 

Kylo turns his hand so that he’s grasping mine. Without a word, he turns, pulling me behind him. My gaze travels over him, trying to use his giant wings and horns to remind myself that he’s a monster.

It doesn’t help. I still want to kiss him. 

He stops at an empty spot to the right of where we entered the center of the maze and snaps his fingers. An intricately carved bench appears, and he gestures for me to sit. I do, pretending to stare at the water as I grapple with the sudden and intense desire to climb Kylo like a tree. 

He sits next to me, the bench magically accommodating his large wings. We’re not touching, but I can feel the heat of him along my right side. 

I clear my throat and cast around my head for something to say. 

“Um, so, tell me more about yourself.”

I cringe. This isn’t a first date. 

“What more do you want to know?”

I think about asking him about his father, but am worried he’ll get angry. 

“What is it like, being a Prince of Faerie?”

I clasp my hands in my lap, trying to stop myself from grabbing at him. 

Kylo makes a noise in the back of his throat. “Lonely.”

I look up at him, surprised. He had a mother and, for a bit at least, a father. He had subjects, anyone to give him anything. 

“How so?”

I narrow my eyes at him when he answers; he stares ahead, almost looking self-conscious. 

“As I’m sure you’ve surmised, Faerie is not a nice place, and being a prince of Faerie, specifically the heir to the Seelie throne, means that everyone is either trying to kill you or use you to further their lot in life.”

I think about that. “Yeah. I can see how that would be lonely.”

Kylo’s hand twitches toward me, but he makes a fist and rests it on his leg instead. 

“What of your childhood?” he asks. 

I take a deep breath. Do I really want to tell him about my childhood?

“Also, lonely.”

He is silent, likely waiting for me to continue. I look over and give him a wry smile. “I wasn’t the heir to a throne.”

“Who will be missing you?” he asks. 

I want to smile at the question. The way he speaks is so antiquated. 

“No one.”

He frowns. “That can’t be. Surely you have family or friends who will miss you.”

I shrug. “My parents left me when I was five. I never saw them again. I spent my entire childhood in foster care.” I glance over and see he doesn’t know what that is. “The government becomes your parent, and they put you in homes with adults to take care of you.” 

I look out at the pool, sparkling with bioluminescence. “I moved a lot until I was about twelve. A nice older lady, Maz, took me in. I stayed there until I was eighteen.” 

I bite my lip as the pain of her loss hits me as fresh as the day I found out I truly had no more family. “She passed when I was twenty.”

“Human lives are so fleeting.” 

His voice is so soft, I wonder if he even meant for me to hear. I turn to find him frowning at me, something that might be sadness in his eyes as he watches me. 

I huff a laugh. “Yeah. I’m sure it seems that way when you live forever.”

He doesn’t respond to my poor attempt at humor. I look back out across the pool, my skin suddenly feeling hot and itchy. 

I hate feeling like I’m putting myself out there. This feels too much like intimacy. I close my eyes and remind myself that I have to do this in order to get back home. We can’t do whatever it is we need to do to break the spell if we don’t learn about each other. 

I still hate it though. 

Gentle fingers touch my chin, turning me toward Kylo.

“Rey.” 

His voice is so gentle, so unlike how he usually speaks to me, that I open my eyes. My stomach flips at the heated look in his eyes. He leans closer to me and my breath catches. His eyes move back and forth between mine, as if he’s waiting for me to push him away. 

The problem is how much I don’t want him to push me away. In fact, I very much wish he would move closer faster.

Without stopping to think about it, I lean the rest of the way and press my lips to his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure I'm satisfied with this chapter, but (to loosely quote the Genie from Aladdin) I guess that's part and parcel, the whole writing gig. Hopefully you all enjoyed it!


	15. Chapter 15

_ This is wrong _ . 

A voice in the back of my mind—probably my conscience—screams at me to stop. Cease. Desist. This creature tortured humans. He thinks he’s better than humans—better than me. He looks like a demon.

My hind brain doesn’t care. 

The moment our lips touch,  _ something _ snaps. Something that has always been there, but now it’s awake.

Kylo’s chest rumbles as he slides his hand behind my neck, the sound sending a shiver down my spine. I swing my leg over so that I’m straddling him, and he immediately grabs my ass, pulling me close. I slide my arms around his neck, pulling his hair. 

He licks the seam of my mouth, and I open eagerly. His sharp teeth nip lightly at my bottom lip and I moan, the not-quite-painful scrape of them sending sparks of electricity straight down to my lower abdomen. 

_ You can’t do this. Get ahold of yourself. Remember who he is, who you are, why you’re here. _

Kylo flexes his hand, pressing me against his groin, and unknowingly silences my conscience. I shudder when the hard outline of him rubs against me. A desperate sound, like a high-pitched moan, escapes and I wrap my legs around his waist, rolling my hips against him. Kylo growls, pulling my hair to the point of pain, his hand flexing against my ass, pressing me down harder. 

I move my hips faster as Kylo kisses the breath from me. His hand slides up my waist, goosebumps trailing behind his fingers. I curse the dress that keeps me from feeling his skin against mine. His fingers trail around the edge of my collar, over my collarbone and down to the small swell of my breast.

I make a noise in the back of my throat, my hand covering his, urging him to touch me. Needing him to touch me. 

His hand is so large that my whole breast fits in his palm. He gently squeezes, and I can’t tell if he’s hesitant or deliberately teasing me. I pull his hair hard. He hisses and pinches my nipple through the fabric of my dress. I whine as the pain shoots straight to my lower belly like a jolt of electricity, my whole body twitching. I grind harder against him, my orgasm building each time his sizeable bulge rubs against me. 

He pulls away from me and begins to kiss, suck, and bite a trail down my jaw and throat. His sharp teeth scrape lightly against my throat and he sucks hard at the spot where my shoulder and neck meet. 

I buck harder against him, my body tightening, my conscience entirely silenced as I crave release. He pinches my nipple, sucking hard on my neck, and I fall over the edge. 

The pleasure rolls over me and my head falls back as I gasp. I go limp, falling backward, his arm at my back the only thing keeping me from hitting the ground.

The whole world is upside down as I try to slow my gasping breaths, Kylo trailing kisses up my chest and neck as my chest heaves. Slowly, he pulls me upright. 

My post-orgasmic brain is fuzzy, and I don’t really know what to say, the first tendrils of embarrassment sliding up my spine. Kylo’s eyes reflect the glowing light of the water, making them look like they’re glowing in the dark. We stare at one another, neither speaking. 

That was the strongest—and best—orgasm I’ve ever had. By a long shot. My embarrassment starts to turn to horror, my stomach twisting as the reality of what I let him do comes crashing into my head. 

It’s hard to look him in the eye and I swallow at the look in his eye. I can’t quite decipher it, but something about it makes me feel on edge. 

He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and then snaps his fingers.

Blinking stupidly, I realize I’m now sitting in the middle of my bed. It takes me a few moments to get my bearings, and when I do, I realize that I’m alone. 

I exhale, relief and something that feels suspiciously like disappointment flooding through me.. 

He really needs to stop snapping me places. It’s annoying, and—if I’m being honest—hurtful after what just happened. 

Walking to the door, I’m surprised to find it unlocked. Opening the door, I stare down the curved stairs of the tower, trying to decide if I want to go confront him over snapping me away like a chickenshit. 

I’m not sure how long I stare down the stairway, but eventually I shut the door.

I guess I’m a chickenshit too.

* * *

I sleep really well that night and wake up feeling better rested than I have in a long time. I guess mind-bending orgasms are good like that. 

At the reminder of why I slept so well, however, dread sinks into my stomach like a rock. I feel even more like a coward in the light of day and wish I had just confronted him the night before. Now it’s just going to be even more awkward.

I take a deep breath and force myself out of bed. I really need to take a moment to think through this. Part of me knows that I’m just doing what I need to do in order to get free. Another, louder part, however, continues to remind me of the horrors Kylo committed in the past. 

Maybe I should confront him about his past again. Or maybe I should wait. I don’t know. Maybe I should give him a chance to change his opinions of humans. This, whatever it is, is new. Ish. I mean, I have been here for months, at least by Faerie time. 

I try not to think about the fact that time in Faerie can move either faster or slower. For all I know, it’s been years since I came here. I could end up going back to nothing.

Taking off my nightgown, I pull on a dress. I’ve kind of gotten used to them, something I never thought would happen. Still wish I had some trousers, though. Maybe I can turn on the charm and convince Kylo to commission some new clothes for me. 

I snort at the idea of me trying to manipulate Kylo into letting me wear trousers. 

_ Pick your battles, Rey. _

I head to the dining room, taking a deep breath to calm myself before I step through the door. Kylo glances up from his breakfast, nodding once and then lowering his eyes back to his plate. 

My mouth pops open and I blink at him, surprised—and somewhat gratified—to realize he might be just as nervous as I am. 

I step toward the table and then stop, glancing between the chair at the end of the table, and the one next to him. Closing my eyes, I tell myself not to be a coward and force myself to walk to the chair next to his. 

A plate of food appears when I sit. I glance at Kylo, who continues to ignore me, and then pick up my fork and start shoveling eggs into my mouth. 

We sit in complete silence, nothing but the sound of silverware scraping against the plates. The awkwardness is so thick I could probably scoop it out of the air to spread on my toast. 

I try to think of something to say, but can’t. How do you start a conversation with someone who used to torture humans, gave you a fantastic orgasm, and then essentially sent you on your way?

Doubt creeps in. Maybe I read too much into the whole thing. Maybe what happened was nothing to him. I begin to feel like a child, or a teenager with her first boyfriend, unsure if I’m putting too much stock into something that might be just sex. 

I shake my head without realizing it. 

No. Maybe if he had gotten off too, but a guy doesn’t just get you off for shits and giggles. If he were blowing off steam, then he would have gotten himself off instead of me. 

Ok. So then what  _ did _ it mean?

I keep shoveling food in my mouth, too far off in my own little world to realize Kylo finished eating and is watching me. 

My plate refills itself and I keep eating. 

Eventually I notice there is no longer the sound of scraping flatware, and look up, blinking in shock to find Kylo leaning back in his chair, watching me. 

I swallow the food in my mouth, drinking water to wash it all down and clear my throat. 

“So.”

“So.” 

Kylo’s voice is deep and my stomach flips. I look away, inhaling slowly and trying to talk myself into confronting him. 

I exhale loudly and turn back to him. “I don’t like you just snapping me away whenever you’re embarrassed.”

His mouth parts, and he raises his eyebrows. “Embarrassed?”

He sounds a bit defensive, and that gives me more courage. 

“Or sick of me, or whatever. I want you to stop it.”

“Why?”

The neutral tone of his voice gets to me, causing me to doubt that I’m reading the situation right. Maybe he wasn’t defensive. Maybe I really am putting more into last night than he is. The man’s centuries old. He probably doesn’t see snapping me away as a big deal because he doesn’t even see me as a person.

I lean back in my chair, trying to mirror his calm demeanor. 

“I wouldn’t think I’d have to spell it out for you.”

He stares at me, brow slightly furrowed, for so long that I feel my anger flare up again. I shove my chair back. 

“Never mind. This was a bad idea.” 

I walk as quickly as I can to the door. 

“Ok.”

I stop at the doorway and look back. “What?”

He stands, walking toward me. I grasp the door jamb, frozen as he stalks near. 

He stops a healthy distance away from me, his face a mask of neutrality. “I won’t snap you places anymore.”

I’m not sure what to do, but the urge to turn around and flee is strong. 

“Um. Thanks.”

He nods. I nod back. 

He takes a step towards me, and I automatically step back, regretting it immediately when his expression turns dark. 

“I would like to be on my way,” he says. 

His voice is clipped, and my heart falls. 

“No, I didn’t mean—” I stop, when he narrows his eyes at me. I drop my hand and take a step back. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything.”

He walks past me, seeming to work hard not to brush me as he passes. “I didn’t think you did.”

* * *

I wander aimlessly around the castle for a bit. Talking with Kylo didn’t exactly go as planned… not that it was really all that planned. 

I end up in the library again, but decide against bothering Kylo in his little hideout. I’m still feeling like I’m taking what happened the day before more seriously than he is, and I’d rather sift through my thoughts and feelings before talking to him again. 

I climb the spiral staircase on the opposite side of the room to the third story where the newer books are. I’m still surprised to see so many books by earth writers. Maybe Leia gets them for him. 

Unsure of what I’m in the mood to read, I grab a volume at random and make my way back down the stairs. There are several plush armchairs facing the windows, so I settle into one of them and crack open the book. 

I try to lose myself in the story, but my concentration keeps breaking as I look in the general direction of the secret door every few minutes. 

It’s only when I turn the page to chapter five and realize I have no idea what happened in the past four chapters that I finally snap the book shut and lean back in the chair, staring out the window. 

Unfortunately for me, this doesn’t provide the distraction I was hoping for. I’m looking straight at the entrance of the hedge maze. 

I bite my lip, thinking about the night before. I’ve never had a real relationship. I’m more of a Tinder hookup kind of person, and even then it’s very infrequent. I’m used to being on my own and am perfectly happy to just take care of myself. 

However, not a single hookup has ever been as hot as last night. In fact, I’d call them all mediocre by comparison. I guess when you’ve had as many years as Kylo to perfect your technique, you learn a few things. 

I bite my lip, wondering how experienced he is if he’s spent so many years here. Then I realize what I’m thinking and shake my head. What difference does it make if he’s forty or four hundred or even four thousand? He’s much older than me and is obviously more experienced. 

It seems like Kylo’s age should gross me out, but Kylo looks… very young for his age. 

I snort to myself at that thought. 

Feeling restless, I decide to take a walk, maybe see if I can find my way to the center of the maze without Kylo. 

I head outside, the grass cool and soft under my bare feet, and stop at the entrance of the maze, trying to remember which direction we started off in. I think it was left. 

I run my hand long the wall, surprised by how soft the hedge feels. Almost like running my hand through carpet. 

Twenty minutes later, I realize I’m lost. I turn around, thinking of retracing my steps, but hesitate, not sure if I’ll be able to. 

Turning back around, I decide to press on. The maze can’t be that big. I’m bound to find my way to the middle, eventually. 

After another twenty minutes go by, without no exit in sight, I start to worry. Faerie has taught me that anything can be dangerous. It didn’t take Kylo that long to walk us through the maze the night before. What if the maze is changing around me? 

I shake my head, trying to stifle the sudden rise of panic. I’m probably just circling around the edge or something. I decide to turn left at every corner. Surely that’ll help. It’s haphazardly making left and rights that is messing me up. 

The sun is high overhead now, and I’m hot, thirsty, and irritated. Why can’t anything be simple in Faerie? English hedge mazes are simple and the hedges are only waist high. 

I glare at the greenery above my head. 

My plan to turn left doesn’t work. After yet another twenty minutes, I’m still stuck in the maze so I stop to catch my breath, to calm myself. Being irritated and worried won’t help me. 

A shadow passes over me and I gasp when Kylo lands in front of me. 

“What are you doing here?” He doesn’t look happy to find me here. 

I’m too happy at the thought of being airlifted out of this maze of hell to care that he’s upset. 

“I was trying to find something to do and thought I’d go to the pool of water again.”

He crosses his arms. “This maze will only let me pass. You’d be wandering here until you died if I didn’t come.”

I glare at him. “Well, that’s stupid.”

He shrugs. “I value my privacy.”

“Yeah, privacy must be hard to come by in your private castle.” I roll my eyes. 

He doesn’t respond, staring at me with a frown. 

The silence draws out, growing thick between us, and I dig my fingers into my arm. 

“What?” I finally ask, feeling self-conscious. 

“Why do you want to go back to the pool?” he asks. 

The look in his eyes makes me feel like he can see exactly what I’m thinking. I look away. 

“No reason.”

He takes a step closer and I step away, my back against the hedge. I drop my hands, pressing my palms against the hedge as he comes still closer. 

“No reason at all?” His voice is hardly more than a rumble, and it makes my insides feel like they’re melting into a puddle.

I suddenly feel short of breath, as if I’ve been running. My chest heaves as I shake my head. 

“None whatsoever.”

He leans down, and I part my lips without realizing it, waiting for him to kiss me. 

My thoughts turn to mush, like there’s a buzzing in my brain drowning out the rational voice telling me why this is a bad idea. 

I want him to kiss me. Very,  _ very _ badly. 

He lifts a hand and trails the back of his fingers across my cheek, his pupils dilating as he stares at my mouth. 

I breathe faster as his hand trails down my neck, then ghosting down my side until he winds it around my waist. I gasp when he yanks me closer. 

Shivers run through me when he whispers in my ear.

“I see I’ll have to give you a reason.”

I close my eyes and wrap both arms around his waist when his wings unfold and he shoots up into the air.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A million thanks to shestoolazytologin and ksco for all the beta work they've been doing. Especially because I'm terrible and keep sending this to them with like a day's notice.

I’m reminded of one of those amusement park rides where you rocket into the air and then plummet. My stomach tries to exit my feet as we shoot into the sky and then exit my mouth when we drop just as suddenly. 

The whole thing takes all of two seconds, but I don’t let go of him immediately, my eyes squeezed tightly shut as my head spins.

“Please warn me the next time you do that,” I say, my voice as wobbly as my legs. 

Kylo chuckles, sounding like a warm rumble against my ear, and my lower abdomen clenches. 

He grabs my hand, and I open my eyes when he begins pulling me behind him. We’re in the center of the maze, and he’s pulling me toward the pool of water. I tug him to a stop when he takes a step in. 

He looks back at me and blinks. “What is it?”

“I can’t swim in a dress.” I cross my arms, looking away. “Actually, I can’t swim at all.”

Without a word, Kylo snaps his fingers and my dress disappears, replaced with a bikini. 

“I thought you agreed to stop that,” I say, hurrying in the water, the prospect of drowning feeling less risky than letting Kylo see so much skin. 

I know I’m not naked, but I feel like I am. I haven’t had a problem wearing a bikini in the past, but this feels more intimate than a crowded beach.

The water is pleasantly cool, but the slope is so steep that I’m up to my neck after only a handful of steps. I only have time for a split second of panic before Kylo grabs my wrist and stops my head from going under. I gasp and dig my toes into the silt, trying to get my footing.

He raises his eyebrows but doesn’t comment; instead, he answers my question. “I agreed not to snap you places. I made no such promises about other situations.”

I huff, rolling my eyes. Stupid faerie word games. 

I open my mouth to snark at him but freeze when I realize that along with my bikini, he also snapped himself into swim trunks. I hadn’t noticed this in my hurry to cover myself. 

His broad chest is well-muscled and tapers down to his hips. His trunks are slung low, a prominent V disappearing into the waistband. Without realizing I’m doing so, my gaze travels down and then back up. Despite the cool water, I suddenly feel hot all over.

When my gaze reaches Kylo’s face, I realize he’s watching me with a faint smirk on his face. I snap my jaw closed and clear my throat, looking away.

“I’m not joking when I say I can’t swim.”

The water swirls around me as he passes by me. He kicks off the ground and treads water, gently tugging my arm. I resist, trying to step back as visions of my near-drowning surge to the forefront of my mind. 

As if he can tell what I’m thinking, he says, “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The look in his eyes makes me swallow, my already heated cheeks getting hotter. I probably look sunburnt. 

He brushes his thumb along my wrist. I lick my lips, looking down at the water, still unsure. “Those creatures I saw last night… they won’t harm me, will they?”

He shakes his head. “They obey my command.”

He tugs harder and I lose my footing. I gasp, my legs flailing around as I kick my feet. Before my head goes under, Kylo pulls me to his chest, his other arm banding around my waist. 

I turn into a koala, wrapping my arms and legs around him, squeezing my eyes shut. 

His chest vibrates when he chuckles. “I said I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

“I-I nearly drown when I left.” I let out a shaky breath. “I  _ did _ drown, actually, only whatever magic was in the stream didn’t let me die. That was how Hux found me.”

His fingers twitch against my waist at the reminder of Hux. “You need not fear that the same will happen here.”

His lips are next to my ear when he speaks, and I shiver. I take a deep breath and force myself to open my eyes. His wings drifting back and forth through the water behind us. 

“The wings don’t make it more difficult for you?” I ask, turning my head to look at him. I bite my lip when I realize how close our lips are. Our noses are nearly brushing, and I’m suddenly very aware of every place we touch.

He runs a hand slowly up and down my back. “They make it easier, actually. I don’t have to use my feet to tread water, and floating on my back requires less effort.”

His hands drift up my sides and pull my arms away from his neck. I gasp when he leans back and suddenly I’m straddling him, my legs dangling on either side of his waist. 

His wings are spread on either side of him, and I can’t help but think they look rather beautiful. I’ve never really looked at them before. They’re so thin, almost resembling tissue paper stretched over tendons. He watches me as my gaze roams from wing tip to wing tip. With his black, iridescent hair floating around his face and his wings outstretched, it’s almost like I’m looking at a painting of a fallen angel. 

His pupils dilate and his gaze turns heavy-lidded. I think he looks pleased to have me ogling him. 

“Are your horns heavy?”

He huffs a laugh, resting his hands on my hips as he answers. “I hardly notice them anymore.”

My voice catches when his thumbs brush light circles over my hip bones. “Don’t they pull your head down when you float?”

He closes his eyes and shrugs. “If I had to wager a guess, I’d say they’re hollow.”

I frown and shake my head. “What?”

His lips twitch. “They’re not as heavy as they look.”

His hands glide up my waist, stopping just short of my breasts. My stomach muscles tighten and my lower abdomen throbs. My breasts suddenly feel heavy and I can see my nipples pointing through the skimpy bikini material. 

The same voice that tried to talk sense to me yesterday tries again today, but once again I ignore it in favor of my baser urges. 

His eyes open, snagging mine, when I move my hips to try easing some of the tension. I stare down at him, my lips parted. Once again, it takes no time for Kylo to make me pant. Some far-off part of my mind wonders if there’s magic at play, some not-horny reason I’m so attracted to him. 

Kylo moves his thumbs against the side of my breasts, effectively stopping that trail of thought. I bite my lip to stop myself from either moaning, whimpering, or both. He’s not touching me where I need him to. 

I fall forward, placing both my hands on Kylo’s chest, needing to know if I have the same effect on him. The muscles are rock hard, and I watch Kylo’s face as I run my fingers down his chest to his abs. The muscles jump under my fingers, and I smirk when I hear a sharp intake of breath.

Kylo finally palms my breasts, the fabric of the bikini harsh against my nipples as he kneads, sending jolts of electricity straight to my clit. 

He’s only touched my breasts and yet I feel overly sensitized, like I need him to touch me everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I lean down and kiss Kylo’s chest, gratified when I hear a low rumble in response. 

I kiss, lick, and suck my way up his chest to his throat, scraping my teeth against the skin at the juncture of his neck and shoulder, much like he had the day before. 

He pinches my nipples, and I moan against him before moving my way up to his mouth. I kiss first one corner of his mouth and then the next. He growls and grabs my jaw, kissing me hard. 

His hands moved, dropping my waist before dipping into my bikini bottoms to grab my ass. He shoves me down to grind against him. I moan into his mouth at the sensation. 

His hand moves further down my bikini bottoms, so close to where I’d like him, but not close enough. I wiggle, trying to hint that I want him to go further. He smiles against my mouth and starts kneading my ass instead. 

Asshole.

Two can play this game. 

I break away from him, kissing down his jaw, my hand drifting south. I dip into his trunks, my fingers ghosting along his cock, but never grasping. 

He hisses and then groans, moving his hips to get better friction. I look at him through my eyelashes, removing my hand and smiling at the frustration on his face. 

“Not very nice, is it?” 

He bares his teeth at me, and I squeak when he grabs me by the waist and swims to the edge of the water. He lifts me like I weigh nothing and lays me on the grass.

“What—” 

He crushes his lips against mine, silencing my question before I can ask it, leaning against one hand to keep his weight off me. His other hand dips down into my bottoms and circles my clit. 

I gasp against his mouth and move my hips. He kisses down my throat, sucking hard at my neck. I’m going to have very dark and prominent reminders there, but at the moment all I can do is groan. 

He’s not being gentle and I like it. He scrapes his sharp teeth against my skin, leaving a stinging trail in their wake. The pleasure far outweighs the pain, however, and when he sucks hard on my breast through the bikini top, I jerk, moaning loudly at the sensation. 

I’m so close, I squirm trying to get more friction as he drags his finger down my slit and back up, circling, pressing, but never giving me enough to push me over the edge. 

“Please,” I gasp. 

He surges back up, looming over me and looking more like a demon than ever, his pupils blown so wide that his snake eyes are nearly black. 

“Please, what?”

“Please—” I break off in a groan when he circles my clit, still not hard enough.

He leans down, sucking below my ear. “What do you need, Rey?” he whispers. “Tell me.”

“More,” I say, tilting my hips up, trying to increase the friction. 

“More what?”

His voice is low and my whole body jerks as the sound makes my clit throb.

“Touch me harder,” I gasp, grabbing his shoulder so hard my nails bite into his skin. “I need more.”

I whine when he doesn’t increase his pressure, slowly driving me mad. 

“Please.” My voice is high pitched, but I don’t care how wonton I sound.

He chuckles. 

“Well, since you asked so nicely.”

He removes his hand from my bottoms, and I whine in response. He breathes against me as he pulls down the cups of the bikini top.

“Patience,” he says.

He slides down my body, slipping his hand back into my bikini bottoms, pressing harder and circling faster than before. I curse, my back bowing when he latches onto my breast, sucking hard, his teeth lightly scraping. 

This time when I fall over the edge, I feel like I’m being electrocuted, the pleasure radiating from the abdomen to the tips of my fingers on an electric current, making my toes curl. When it’s over, I go limp, my chest heaving as Kylo lazily kisses a trail up to my mouth. 

None of my sparse hookups have ever been this intense. 

Kylo rolls to the side, tucking his wings against his back, and pulls me to his chest. 

He seems to realize that I need to cuddle, which is weird since this is the first time I’ve ever felt that way. Usually I can’t wait to get away, having scratched the itch that led me to the hookup in the first place. 

Something about this, however, feels different. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten to know Kylo, unlike the half a dozen random hookups. Maybe it’s because he essentially nursed me back to health. Whatever it is, this feels different from my other sexual encounters.

His hands smoothe up and down my back as I press my face into his chest. Droplets of water trail down his chest to my cheek. 

After a few minutes, when the post-orgasm fog relinquishes its hold on my brain, I realize that once again Kylo didn’t get off. He’s certainly not unaffected, the evidence of his arousal hard against my stomach. 

Without stopping to think it through, I kiss his chest, licking the few remaining droplets away as my hand drifts lower. He freezes, his body tensing as my hand dips into his trunks. This time I don’t tease. I grasp him and slide to the tip. I rub my thumb over the tip, spreading the wetness there.

He rumbles his pleasure as I start pumping, sucking my own mark on his chest. To my enormous satisfaction, it doesn’t take long before he comes with a groan. 

I place my chin on his chest and smile up at him. He’s watching me through half-lidded eyes, one corner of his mouth turned up. 

“It didn’t seem fair that only I get off,” I say. 

He doesn’t say anything, though the corner of his mouth lifts a little higher, so I think he’s pleased. 

His arms wrap around me and hugs me close. 

This is nice. 

I wiggle until I’m closer, my cheek pressed against him, one of my legs slotted between his, my hands tucked against my chest. 

He resumes trailing his hands up and down my spine and before I know it, I’m fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for taking so long to answer comments the past couple weeks. My mental health took a bit of a nosedive out of the clear blue sky. That's always fun. 
> 
> For those readers who are wondering if and/or when these two are going to have a real conversation, never fear. They begin actually conversing in the next chapter. :P In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this little smut interlude. :)


	17. Chapter 17

When I wake, it’s almost sunset. I squint up at the sky, surprised, and a little disoriented, by how long I slept. Neither Kylo nor I have moved; his hands press tightly against my back as I lounge half-on-top of his chest, one of my legs slotted between his. I turn to look at him and see he’s still sleeping. 

He looks younger, his forehead free of a frown and his lips parted as he breathes softly. His hair dried in waves, looking soft and shiny in the sunlight. I’m tempted to run my fingers through it, but don’t want to wake him. Instead, I study his face and think through the last couple of days. 

Things are moving really fast. I didn’t even realize I was so attracted to him. Not really, at least. It’s not like my type is “demon with horns and snake eyes,” but there’s something about Kylo that draws me like a magnet, something I can’t put my finger on. 

I haven’t forgotten about his past—can’t forget about his past. Guilt slides up my throat like bile as I think about the horrors he’s committed. I need to confront him about it. I need to know if he still thinks he’s better than humans, if he would consider torturing or “playing” with them if he had the chance.

For that matter, I need to know why he’s never tried to torture me. Or “play” with me. Really, he’s left me pretty much alone, aside from forcing me to wear dresses and that time he tried to starve me.

I frown up at him, pressing my lips together as I contemplate. The reason probably has more to do with my ability to free us than anything. Torturing me probably wouldn’t help him. 

So, I guess now I also need to add “what the hell is this thing” to the list of subjects we need to discuss. The answer to that question scares me more than the answer to whether he would torture humans. Somehow, the thought of finding out I’m nothing more than a path to freedom causes dread to drop like a stone in my stomach. 

Kylo’s arms squeeze me closer, startling me from my thoughts as his eyes flutter open. He looks down at me, his brows drawing together as if he can’t remember what we’re doing here. 

“Hi,” I say. 

He doesn’t immediately respond, and I look down, not sure what to do. My face heats, my skin starts to feel itchy, and suddenly I don’t want to be snuggling.

Squirming, I try to get away, but Kylo’s grip is unyielding, holding me in place. I stop and close my eyes, exhaling and trying to gather my confidence. 

“Please let me go.”

There’s a pause and then his arms drop. I scramble away, standing quickly. It’s only then that I realize I’m still wearing nothing but a bikini. I cross my arms, looking anywhere but at him. 

“Please give me my clothes back,” I say. 

Kylo stands, and it’s hard to not stare at him. He’s massive, muscles everywhere, and suddenly my throat is dry. Without speaking, he snaps his fingers, and I’m back in my dress. I glance up at him, looking away just as quick, and nod. 

“Thanks.”

He walks toward me, but I turn around, walking toward the opening in the hedge maze. I just want to get away and collect my thoughts. 

“Rey.” 

I stop when his hand lands on my shoulder, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. 

“Yes?”

I hear the light crunch of grass, and when I open my eyes, Kylo is standing in front of me. I press my lips together to keep from speaking, in danger of rambling on and saying more than I should. 

“I…” He looks away, and some of my embarrassment disappears as he struggles for words. After a moment, he looks back at me. “I would like to snap you to dinner… if that’s alright.”

That’s not what I expected to hear. I blink at him a moment before I nod. He raises his hand, and the next instant we’re both in the dining room, with Kylo fully clothed.

I blow out a breath. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

His lips twitch as he cups my cheek. He leans down, kissing me quickly as his other hand slides down my arm to grab my hand. I blink up at him, mouth open when he pulls away. 

He smirks and then walks me to the chair next to his. He even pulls it out for me. I don’t think anyone’s ever done that for me before, although I haven’t been on any proper dates, so I guess I don’t know if that’s a thing men do still. It feels kind of antiquated, but… I like it.

My plate of food appears, but I wait until Kylo sits before eating. 

We eat in silence, but it feels comfortable instead of awkward. Every time I glance over at Kylo, he’s already looking at me, and every time it makes my heart flutter. I always thought that was just a phrase people wrote to add romantic flare to a story—like a metaphor—but my heart actually feels like it is fluttering in my chest. 

This is weird. 

Also weird is the fact that I'm full after just one plate of food. This weird fluttering thing going on is affecting my appetite. 

When we’re both done eating, Kylo stands and holds out a hand. 

I hesitate before grasping it, biting my lip at the rush of electricity that shoots up my arm on contact. I wonder if the same thing happens to him. 

His thumb brushes across the top of my hand as he speaks, his voice soft.

“I’d like you to join me.”

I swallow against my dry mouth and nod. “Okay.”

He puts my hand in the crook of his elbow, and I feel like I’ve been dropped inside a Jane Austen novel as we walk through the hallways. I keep waiting for Kylo to say something, but he doesn’t. I try to think of something to say, but also kind of don’t want to break the silence with small talk. 

He leads me into one of the studies. There are armchairs and sofas all over, some under windows, others near a row of bookshelves, and a pair of wing-backed chairs that are facing a roaring fireplace. 

I don’t even realize how cold I am until we sit in the chairs and the warmth of the fire hits me. I shiver, extending my hands to warm them up. 

I glance over at Kylo, mouth popping open when I realize his wings look as if they’re going through the chair. 

“My mother was kind enough to magic the castle furniture to work with my wings,” Kylo says with a sardonic smile. 

I nod. “Oh. That’s nice of her.”

Wincing, I look back to the fire and take a deep breath. 

_ Just rip off the bandaid and get the hard questions over, _ I tell myself.  _ Best to know exactly what Kylo thinks of you.  _

I clear my throat, clasping my hands in my lap and staring down at them. One of the perks of never having been in a relationship is I never had to have the “where is this going” talk. 

Conversely, I think it might be one of the bad things about never having been in a relationship. I have no idea what I’m doing.

“I need to know something,” I say.

I glance at Kylo, who looks wary, but nods. 

“Um,” I swallow, shutting my eyes to gather courage and forcing the words out. “I need to know what you think of me.” 

When I’m met with silence, I open my eyes and suddenly the words are tumbling out. 

“Obviously, you can’t change your past. It is what it is, but I need to know how you feel now. If you weren’t bound here by the curse, would you have tortured me, played with me? Do you still think you’re better than humans?”

I know I’m rambling, but it’s like a floodgate has opened and I can’t stop.

“I can look past your past… I think. At the very least, if you are sorry or ashamed of what you did, then… well, it doesn’t make it ok, but it at least shows you’ve grown.”

I can tell I’m about to over share, but can’t stop myself. 

“I’ve never been in a relationship before, so this is all very new to me. Not that this is a relationship exactly. It’s kind of hard to call it that when I’m being held here against my will, but I strongly suspect that we need t-to share feelings to break the curse.”

I inhale and clamp my mouth shut. Kylo blinks at me with raised eyebrows. 

“Sorry,” I say, looking down and wishing I could sink through the floor. “I… guess I kind of rambled.”

Silence fills the space between us, and I feel hot and itchy. I want to leave, but I also think running away would be just as humiliating, so I sit and stare at my hands.

“That was a lot of information.”

I close my eyes, leaning back and rubbing my forehead. “Yeah.”

Silence stretches out between us, filling the room as my face starts to feel as if it will spontaneously combust at any moment.

“I’ve never been in a relationship either.”

I’m so shocked by Kylo’s admission that I momentarily forget my embarrassment and look over at him. “What? How’s that possible? You’re… well, however old you are.”

His lips twitch. “And I told you that mine is a lonely existence.”

I don’t know what to say, so I just stare as my previous embarrassment creeps back in. 

“To answer your questions,” he says, looking me square in the eye, “had I never been imprisoned here, I most likely would still be the same person I was before. I never had a reason to see humans as anything but toys to make me laugh.”

I blink at his blunt honesty. “Oh.”

Something in his eyes softens. “I’ll admit, when I saw the woman my mother brought here, I did not expect things to work.” He chuckles, the warm sound making me shift in my chair. “You represented everything I hated, the very thing that has trapped me for centuries. You’re strong-willed, crude, and show a lack of regard for privacy.”

I cross my arms. “Please, don’t hold back.”

A fleeting smile crosses his face. “But there is something about you, something beneath it all, that piqued my interest.”

He looks away, seeming lost in his thoughts. I wait, resisting the urge to fill the silence.

“I no longer desire to harm humans.” He looks back at me. “I would only see your face in all of them, and I can’t bear the thought of harming you.”

Warmth spreads through me. 

I bite my lip, unsure if it’s wise to bring up his father, but feeling the need to let him know that I know. 

“Your mother told me about your father.”

It’s weird watching Kylo’s face completely shut down at the mention of his father. I clasp my hands tighter in my lap to prevent myself from reaching over to him; he doesn’t look like he would welcome my touch. 

“She told me he’s the reason you hate, or at least hated, humans.”

“I don’t wish to speak of him,” Kylo says through his teeth. 

I consider whether I should tell him that his father didn’t leave by choice but it’s not really my secret to share. It could backfire spectacularly, and I’m not sure if I want to make the Queen of the Seelie angry with me. Who knows what she’d do to me. 

“Do you ever talk about it with your mom?” I ask

Kylo snorts. “No.”

“You should ask her why he left.” 

I hold my breath, hoping I didn’t just say too much. Kylo’s eyes narrow.

“What did she tell you?”

I clear my throat, fidgeting. I really want to tell him. He deserves to know… but it’s really not my place.

“Please, just ask her why he left.”

He turns, leaning back in his chair and watching the fire. 

I watch him. I still can’t believe how my opinion of him has changed so quickly. When I look at him now, I don’t see a demon. The horns, the teeth, the wings, none of it scares me now. In fact, I would really like to touch his wings, to see if they feel leathery or soft. I want to run my hands up his horns. 

When did I become so weird? 

I am insanely attracted to—and if I’m being honest, am starting to have real feelings for—this creature that I was once terrified of. I can’t help but wonder if Leia is the reason for this. Maybe there are enchantments on the grounds designed to make a human like Kylo. 

That would defeat the purpose of the curse though, right? Assuming the answer to breaking it involves feelings—which I’m positive it does—then forcing feelings upon both Kylo and me wouldn’t make sense. 

The purpose of the curse is to change Kylo’s behavior. Why else would she include a detailed tapestry of Kylo’s sins, involve a human that he has to like, and make him fall in  _ love _ , if not to force him to confront his past and change?

This is terrifying really. What if I fall for Kylo—really fall for him—and he doesn’t return my feelings? I mean, yeah sure he doesn’t want to hurt me, but that doesn’t mean he’ll fall for me. 

I could be stuck here indefinitely, enduring unrequited love. 

What a terrifying thought.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me realizing it's midnight and I forgot to update. *facepalm*
> 
> **CW: Some mild bdsm moments**

The next morning after breakfast, Kylo asks me to walk with him. I expect him to take me back to hedge maze, but instead, we walk to a little walled-in corner I haven’t seen it before.

The wall is at least two meters tall and completely covered in honeysuckle. I inhale deeply, enjoying the sweet fragrance. 

I’m beginning to wonder how many other things Kylo has kept hidden from me.

There is a little wooden door on one side, painted red with a brass doorknob. Kylo opens it with a key and gestures for me to enter. 

My mouth falls open when I walk through. 

It’s like I’m in a mini-eden. There is even an apple tree in one corner. Looking around, I see there are fruit trees in each corner. Along with apple, there are pear, plum, and peach, each with ripe fruit waiting to be plucked. A bench sits in the middle of each wall between the trees, and flowers fill the space between. A pebbled path winds around the edge of the garden with spokes like a wheel leading to a fountain in the middle.

I turn to Kylo. “It’s beautiful.”

He holds out his hand, a key in his palm, looking vaguely uncomfortable. 

“It’s yours.”

I look first at the key and then at him. 

“What?”

He clears his throat. “I thought you might like your own private space.” He clears his throat again, gesturing around. “You could read… or do whatever you like, without worrying about interruption.”

“The only person here besides you and me is Mitaka.”

He runs a hand through his hair. “Yes, well—This will be a space where you can relax.”

All I can do is gape at him and wonder what prompted this. I want to believe he’s being genuine, but a small part of me wonders if this is some sort of trick. I look down at the key still resting in his hand, trying to see if there are any visible enchantments—even though I know enchantments aren’t visible. 

I stare at him so long he starts to lower his arm, but I snatch the key out of his hand before he can. Admiring how beautiful it is, I rub a finger over the patinated brass.

I clasp the key to my chest and look up. “Thank you.” 

He nods once. “You have my word that I won’t disturb you here.”

I don’t really know what to say, but heart sinks at the thought of Kylo never disturbing me. 

“Okay,” I say, my voice low.

He turns to leave and I’m speaking before I even realize I intend to.

“What if I want you to disturb me?” 

He stops, turning back to me. I close the distance between us, my heart beating fast at being intentionally vulnerable. 

Chewing my lip, I reach out and grab his hand. 

“What if I want you here with me?” 

My voice is hardly louder than a whisper, but Kylo’s eyes widen slightly.

“Then you need only ask and I’ll join you,” he says, sounding hoarse. 

I squeeze his hand, my heart thudding hard in my chest as I ask, “Will you stay with me?”

He blinks once and then nods. “Of course.”

I turn back to look at the small garden and then back at Kylo. 

“Maybe you could read me a book?”

“What book?”

I shrug. “Any book. I’m not picky.”

He snaps his fingers, and a book appears in his hand. I reach for it, curious what book he’s chosen. I can’t read the title. It’s written in a language I’m not sure is even human. 

“I only know English,” I say as I brush my fingers along the gold lettering etched into the old leather cover.

I can hear the amusement in his voice when he responds. “I’ll translate as I go.”

Looking back up, I nod and hand the book back to him. “Okay.”

He gestures toward the garden. “Where shall we go?”

I turn and start toward the opposite end, between the apple and pear trees.

I sit and pull Kylo down next to me. He tenses for a moment and then wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. 

He opens the book and begins reading. His voice is deep and even. It’s so soothing that I miss the entire first chapter of the novel because I’m enjoying the sound and the vibration of his chest as he speaks. 

I close my eyes, trying to focus on the story he’s telling. I was right; it’s not a human story, and that fact is enough to hold my interest, curious to know what sort of stories faeries write. It reminds me of an old Grimm’s fairytale.

In between chapters, Kylo gently nudges me down so that I’m lying on the bench, my head in his lap. He runs his fingers through my hair as he reads.

It’s really nice. 

And kind of strange. 

I can’t help but wonder whether he’s been wanting to run his fingers through my hair as much as I wanted to run my fingers through his. 

Listening to Kylo read as he threads his fingers through my hair is a really pleasant way to spend a morning. I could have happily spent the entire day listening to him read, but my stomach growls. He snaps his fingers and a ribbon appears. He places it in the book and closes it with a snap

“Time for lunch.”

I sit up slowly, stretching my arms above my head and yawning. “You don’t eat lunch.”

He smiles and my heart skips a beat. “But you do.”

Placing a hand on my chest and wondering when I became the sort of person whose heart skips a beat because a man smiled at me, I look around the garden. I’m not ready to leave the peace of these four walls.

“Could we eat here?”

Kylo tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, cupping my jaw and running his thumb over my bottom lip. 

“If that’s what you’d like.”

I nod, grasping his wrist on a whim, sucking his thumb into my mouth, and swirling my tongue around it. I grin when his pupil dilate.

“Very well,” he says, his voice even deeper than usual. 

He snaps his fingers and a blanket and basket appear under the apple tree.

I pull away and grab his hand as I stand, leading him to the basket to sit down. I smile when I see sandwiches, fruit, cheese, and wine inside the basket. I pull out the fruit and cheese and set it on the blanket. I hand the bottle of wine to Kylo, along with the wooden wine glasses, then pull out the plate of sandwiches. 

We eat in silence, and I look around the garden, taking it in. 

“Was this always here?” I ask, looking back at him. 

He nods. 

“How come I never noticed it before?”

His lips thin and the look in his eyes tells me he doesn’t want to say. 

“It’s ok,” I say, not really sure if that’s true or not. I brace myself for his answer.

He takes a deep breath, looking away. “I kept a lot of things hidden from you. My mother designed this garden for—” He cuts off and looks at me.

“For?” I raise my eyebrows, trying to encourage him to continue as I hold my breath.

He pauses a moment longer and then exhales. “For the woman who breaks the spell.”

I suspect that’s not exactly what he was going to say before, but I don’t call him on it. Instead, I take a bite of my sandwich and look around, thinking through the implications of that statement.

“Do you think I’m going to break the spell?”

When I look back at him, I’m startled by the look in his eyes. My cheeks heat at the fire in his eyes. It’s so intense, I’m surprised I don’t see little flames in his pupils.

“I certainly hope so,” he says, brushing his knuckles along my cheek. 

I duck my head, smiling as I take another bite of my sandwich. He grabs a strawberry and eats it in one bite, throwing the stem behind him, his eyes still on me. 

We sit in silence as I eat two sandwiches. He eats the occasional piece of fruit, but otherwise doesn’t do more than stare at me intently. 

In between bites of sandwich, I eat fruit and cheese, sipping my wine. I only have one glass, but it’s enough to spread warmth through my body. After I finish eating, I lay down with my head in Kylo’s lap. 

I close my eyes, humming happily when Kylo starts playing with my hair. He combs his fingers through and starts braiding. I think I doze off for a bit, because the next time I open my eyes, the sun is near the horizon. Kylo is cupping my cheek, rubbing his thumb lightly over my lips. 

I look up at him, and he slides his hand down my throat. It’s so large, he could probably choke me with one hand. To my surprise, that thought only heightens my arousal. 

Grasping his wrist, I pull it away from my throat and sit up, pulling my skirts up so that I can straddle him. He puts his hands on my waist to stabilize me, but doesn’t move to do anything else. 

Good. I have things I want to do to him. 

I reach up and touch his face, tracing his cheek bones with my fingers. He closes his eyes and shivers when I trace the point of his ear, his fingers twitching on my waist. Raising up on my knees, I touch one of his horns. They’s so tall that even on my knees, my fingers can hardly reach the pointed tip. 

His hands slide up my waist as I explore, thumbing my nipples through my dress. I bite my lip, my breath hitching at the sensation. 

I trail my fingers back down the horns, combing my fingers through his hair on my way to his wings. 

He has them folded, but when I trace one finger over the top of one wing, he shudders and they unfurl. He yanks down the top of my dress and latches onto my breast, sucking hard. His tongue swirls while his teeth lightly scrap. 

I groan, arching my back to shove my breasts closer to him. He reaches up to knead the other as I continue tracing my fingers along his wings. 

They’re much softer than they look. I expected them to feel leathery, but it feels almost as if there is a soft peach fuzz all over them. They jump as I trace my fingers up and down, almost as if I’m tickling him, though Kylo doesn’t laugh. Instead, he rumbles in the back of his throat as I brush my hands on each wing down to where the joint meets his back. He groans loudly when I lightly scratch. 

I lean back on my knees and grab Kylo’s face, pulling him away from my breast and kissing him hard. I run my tongue over his teeth, a delicious mixture of fear and lust making my stomach clench as I try to avoid the razor-sharp edges. 

Kylo is hard underneath me, but he doesn’t take charge like he has in the previous trysts. He grasps my waist, fingers biting into me hard enough that I’ll surely have bruises, but otherwise does nothing while we kiss. 

I roll my hips, rubbing against him, gratified when he moans again, his fingers twitching against my waist. I smile, kissing a trail across his jaw toward his ear. I lean up so that I can trace my tongue across the tip. He shudders underneath me. Kissing a trail to the other ear, I smile, feeling powerful when he shudders again. 

His hands drop to my thighs, to my bunched up skirt. I kiss my way back to his mouth as he slides his hands underneath my dress. I settle back on his lap as I kiss him. 

This time he takes control, gently biting my lower lip until I open for him. He slides his hands higher at a frustratingly slow pace, his thumbs tracing circles against the soft skin of my inner thigh. 

I whine against his mouth, rolling my hips, trying to get the friction I need. He squeezes my legs, halting me.

“Patience,” he says against my lips. 

I weave my fingers into his hair and pull hard. He grunts and I smile. 

“I don’t feel patient today.”

He laughs once. “Very well.”

I yelp when he suddenly flips me onto my back. He grabs my wrists in one hand, holding them above my head. He sucks hard beneath my ear.

“Keep your hands up here until I tell you,” he says.

I nod, my lust-filled brain so addled that I can’t even say the word yes. 

He holds himself up with one hand while he traces the other down my arm. I buck against him, groaning and laughing when he slides his hand down my armpit. 

“Ticklish are we?” he says. 

I bite my lip and nod. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he murmurs. 

He leans back down to lave at my breast as his hand travels south. He only pulls away to shove the skirt of my dress completely up, exposing my wet knickers. His pupils dilate so much they’re almost completely black, making him look even more like a demon. 

He looks at me once and I lick my lips without thinking. He smirks and then snaps his fingers. My knickers disappear, leaving me bare before him. His eyes widen like a child on Christmas Day and he places his hands on my knees, sliding them up until his thumbs brush against my core. 

I close my eyes, back arching when he slides his thumb through, circling his thumb around right where I need before shoving one finger inside me. I gasp, bowing off the bench at the sensation. He rumbles in the back of his throat in response. 

His finger is so big that even one is a stretch. He pumps in and out, his thumb circling my clit as his other hand alternates between squeezing my breasts and pinching my nipples. 

I relax around him, rolling my hips and groaning so loud when Kylo slides a second finger in that Mitaka can probably hear me. The stretch is almost painful, but that only heightens my arousal. 

I’m getting even wetter, Kylo’s fingers squelching as they pump in and out of me and I can hear him breathing heavily as he watches me. The sensation of his fingers inside me is so intense that I twist away, cursing as my fingernails bite into my palms above my head. Kylo puts his hand on my abdomen hold me steady. 

He pumps faster, adding in a third finger, and the added stretch finally sends me over the edge. I think I scream as I come. Kylo keeps up the brutal pace, stretching my pleasure out as I bow off the bench again. When I finally collapse back down, he removes his fingers and looks me in the eye as he licks each finger clean. My chest is heaving like I just ran a marathon as I watch him.

I can’t quite believe what just happened, or that I’m not the least bit satiated. If anything, it feels like this orgasm only fanned the flames of my desire. 

Watching Kylo, I sit up—conveniently forgetting that I wasn’t supposed to move without his say so—and crawl to his lap, straddling him. I don’t take my eyes off him as I reach down, untying his pants and pulling his cock out. I pump it a couple times, but it needs no help, feeling rock hard and enormous. I line up and slowly sink down. 

We both exhale hard. I drop my head to his shoulder as I slowly move up and down, trying to relax around him. When I’m fully seated, I pause, both of us panting. Kylo’s hands are under my skirt again, fingers gripping my hips hard. 

Once I’m sure I move without pain, I begin rolling my hips. Kylo helps me move, his hands so large they span the entirety of my ass. I move faster, lifting my head to kiss him. He immediately takes charge of the kiss, licking the roof of my mouth. 

I groan when he shoves my hips harder and faster, increasing the pace I’ve set. Every pump drags the length of him against my center, still sensitive from my last orgasm. I whine at the sensation of pleasure-pain, my next orgasm building rapidly. 

I grasp his hair, pulling tight. It has to be painful, but all Kylo does is groan, shoving my hips even harder and faster. 

My orgasm crashes over me, all my muscles seizing as the pleasure rolls through me. Kylo swallows my cries with a kiss, groaning loudly himself as I feel a warmth inside as he comes. 

We stop moving, kissing as he grows soft inside me. They aren’t passion-filled, but soft and sweet. I’m relieved that he needs the emotional recovery as much as I do. 

Eventually he breaks away, leaning his forehead against mine as we both breathe heavily. 

Once we’ve both caught our breath, he lifts me off him, readjusting his pants as I do the same with my dress. He lies on his side, pulling me to lie against him, his arm banded around my waist as my head rests on his bicep. 

As we lie in comfortable silence, I can’t help but wonder how Kylo can be so fierce and yet so sweet at the same time. 

I might be beginning to like it here. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man can you believe we're already at chapter 19? I feel like I just started posting this thing. LOL

I’m so relaxed that I drift to sleep without realizing. I must turn over in my sleep, because my head is tucked under Kylo’s chin when I wake. My eyes flutter open and when I tilt my head up, Kylo is already watching me.

“Hi,” I say, biting my lip as my face warms.

He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Hello.” His thumb brushes across my cheek. “I trust you slept well?”

I nod, my entire body heating as the details the most amazing sex of my life come flooding back to my mind. 

“Yeah. You?”

The corners of his mouth twitch upwards. “I didn’t sleep.”

“You didn’t?” I blink at him, nonplussed. “So, you’ve just been laying here this whole time?”

His mouth lifts into a bonafide smile and my heart skips several beats. “I can think of many worse ways to spend an afternoon.”

He smoothes a hand down my side, resting his hand on my hip. 

“Did I really sleep the whole afternoon?” I ask, surprised. I’m beginning to wonder if there’s some sort of weird sleep spell in this place because I can’t remember ever spending so much of my time asleep.

He hums in agreement. “Most of it.”

He doesn’t bother to hide the fact that he’s looking me over as his gaze travels down my body. I flush in pleasure at the way he can’t seem to stop. 

Honestly, I’ve never felt so beautiful. 

“Would you like to eat dinner in the dining room?” he asks, his eyes moving back to mine. 

I look around at this secluded bit of garden and then back at him. 

“I’d rather stay here,” I say softly. 

The look on his face tells me he was hoping I’d say that, and I bite the inside of my cheeks to hide my smile. He snaps his fingers. The lunch basket disappears, and under the pear tree a little table set for two pops up, covered dishes on its surface. 

Kylo kisses the tip of my nose before standing and holding out his hand to help me up. He keeps hold of it as he leads me to my chair, pulling it out for me as I sit. 

Happiness fills my chest, expanding like a balloon until I feel like I’ll burst if I don’t smile. Kylo and I catch each other’s eye and grin. I duck my head as I cut my chicken. It feels like we’re on a proper date, and I feel like a schoolgirl with her crush. 

I’ve honestly never felt like this before. Usually, I just use Tinder for stress relief, preferring to forego a real date in favor of scratching the itch immediately. 

Now, however, I feel like prolonging our time here for as long as possible, afraid the spell will be broken when we leave. 

Kylo doesn’t eat much, but shamelessly watches me eat while sipping wine. It makes me a bit self-conscious, trying to take small bites and properly chew my food instead of my usual method of shoveling food in as fast as possible. 

When I’m finished eating, Kylo stands, holding out his hand. I grasp it and when he pulls me up, the table and chairs immediately disappear. The sun is nearly set and as I look around, tiny lights fill the garden. 

“Would you dance with me?” 

I blink at him. “There’s no music.”

A corner of his mouth lifts. He snaps his fingers and music fills the air. 

I raise my eyebrows as I look around, trying to figure out where it’s coming from, but seeing nothing. “Impressive.”

He lifts my hand with a smirk, pulling me close, but I pause, my hand hovering over his shoulder. 

Chewing my lip, I say, “Um, I think you should probably know that I don’t know a thing about dancing.”

Kylo smirks again. “Then it’s lucky that I do.”

He rests his hand on my waist and I finally set mine on his shoulder. 

My heart starts to beat, but not from romance. I’m going to make a fool of myself.

“Ok, but really.,” I say, “I don’t know anything about dancing. Especially classical stuff.”

Kylo moves forward, and I stumble back. “I’m an excellent leader. Just relax and follow.”

I have my doubts, but before I can object further, Kylo starts spinning us around the garden. He watches me as he moves us around the parameter of the garden, and I’m so caught up in meeting his gaze that I don’t even notice that I’m actually dancing. I gasp in surprise when he twirls me out and back, laughing in relief when I don’t slam back into his chest. 

He really is a fantastic dancer. 

The song ends, and he deftly moves into the next, changing his steps and mine. 

We dance for what feels like no time at all, but time slips by all the same. After what must have been several hours, the music ends, and he pulls my hand to his chest and kisses me. A small sound escapes me when his tongue sweeps into my mouth, my toes curling in the grass. 

When he pulls away, he leans his head against mine. “It’s very late.”

I nod, feeling a bit like I’m drunk. “It is.”

He brushes his thumb across my lip. 

“We should probably get to bed.”

Disappointment flows through me. This has been one of the best days of my life, and I’m not ready for it to end. I look up at him, chewing on my bottom lip.

“Stay with me?”

I hold my breath, waiting for his answer. He looks between my eyes, something warring behind his, but eventually nods.

“Of course. If that is what you wish.”

I thread my fingers through his hand. “It’s what I wish.”

We walk out of the garden and to my room holding hands. I feel like a teenager, glancing at him and smiling when I catch his eye. 

We get to my room, and he motions for me to enter first. He follows me in and walks onto the mezzanine as I close the door. I get the feeling he’s as nervous as I am, which eases some of the tension in my shoulders. 

I unlace the corset of my dress and pull it off, quickly pulling on my nightgown, one of the more frilly pieces in my closet, and don’t bother replacing the underwear he snapped off earlier in the day. 

I lift a hand to my hair, smiling when I realize half of it is french braided. I had forgotten Kylo did that earlier. I start to pull my hair out of the braid, but Kylo startles me by pulling my hand away.

“Allow me.”

He pulls me toward a vanity on one side of the room. I sit in the chair with him behind me. He finishes pulling my braids out and runs his fingers through to get rid of tangles. I watch him in the mirror as he begins braiding my hair again, this time into a crown around my head. 

“Where did you learn to braid?”

Something flashes across his face as he meets my gaze in the mirror. “I used to braid my mother’s hair when I was a child.”

“You did?” I smile at the mental image of a much smaller Kylo braiding Leia’s hair.

He nods. “Yes. She has maids that help her, but I frequently devised ways to spend more time with her.” His eyes grow sad. “I was often alone with no one but my nanny. My mother isn’t exactly the loving type.”

“Yeah,” I say, frowning as he looks away from me. “I got that from talking to her.”

He shrugs. “It’s perhaps not entirely her fault. It’s not easy being a queen.”

I don’t comment on the bitterness in his tone. Instead, I watch him braid in silence, amazed at how complicated it is; it’s not a simple three-strand braid, and I couldn’t replicate it if I tried.

“Did one of her maids teach you?” I ask after several long moments had passed. 

He nods. “Most of them treated me with the same indifference as my mother, but I managed to convince one to teach me.”

When he’s finished, he tucks the end of my hair away, and then brushes his fingers down my bare neck, sending a shiver running down my spine. 

He pulls me up and leads me to the bed, laying on his back with his wings spread, and pulls me on top of him. He wraps both his arms and wings around us, creating a cacoon that feels even more private, more intimate, than this empty castle. 

I lay my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat while he runs his hands up and down my spine, sending more shivers through me. My stomach muscles tighten as he lightly brushes his hand down my bottom, my nightgown bunching in his fist. 

He pauses, and turns his hand to my back, kissing the top of my head. 

“Sleep.”

I huff in annoyance, and he chuckles. 

“Sleep,” he says again. 

The problem is not only am I not tired—having slept the entire afternoon—but now I’m turned on, and I can feel his attraction resting hard against my stomach. 

Not to mention that his wings make the space feel like we’re the only two people in the world. 

I squirm against him, smiling when I feel him twitch. 

“Are you sure you want to sleep?” I ask, looking up at him through my lashes. 

He places both hands on my hips, preventing me from squirming. 

“I can hardly keep my eyes open.”

I kiss his chest, moving up to suck on his neck. 

“You don’t sound sleepy,” I say as he groans. His fingers twitch against my skin, as I bite the juncture between his neck and shoulder and he shudders. “I think your phrasing is a faerie trick of words.”

He moves his hands down the back of my thighs. “Is that so?”

I nod as I lick the spot I just bit. “I think you can hardly keep your eyes open because you want me.”

Now that he’s not holding me still, I roll my hips. He curses, grabs my face and rolls me on my back. I smile against his lips when he slides a hand up my nightshirt and groans at my lack of underwear. 

I ache to feel him inside me now. I don’t need—or want—any prep. All I manage to say is “no foreplay.”

He growls at that, forcing my legs open and nudging inside me only to groan when he slides in easily. He rests his forehead against mine as he starts moving, lacing his our hands together and holding them on either side of my head. 

His pace isn’t frenzied like it was before. He pulls back slowly, the drag inside making me crazy, and then snaps his hips back. I move my hips in time with the pace he’s set, wrapping my legs around his waist so that he hits me at a better angle. 

The room is silent except for our groaning and the lewd slap of skin. I close my eyes, gasping when he hits just the right spot inside me. Despite the lazy pace, it doesn’t take long for me to orgasm and when I do, whatever control Kylo had breaks. 

He rams into me so hard I slide up the bed with each thrust, letting go of my hands so that he can lean back and grab my hips, yanking me hard against him. I’m so blissed out that all I can do is moan loudly as he curses and comes, warmth flooding inside me. 

He falls on top of me, pressing me into the mattress. I can hardly breathe, he’s so heavy, but I love it. He gasps for breath, his lips next to my ear. 

“You’ll be the death of me,” he whispers. 

I bite my lip and smile, running my hands up and down his back, around the juncture where his wings meet his back. 

After several minutes, he rolls onto his back, pulling me on top of him. 

“Let’s try this again,” he says, wrapping his arms and wings around us. 

Surprisingly, I’m even less sleepy than I was before, but I lay my head back on his chest, absentmindedly running my fingers across his skin. 

“What do you do in the library?” I ask before I can stop myself. 

I feel him tense under me and immediately regret asking. 

“Forget it,” I say in a rush. “You don’t have to answer.”

He takes a deep breath. “I paint.”

Definitely not what I was expecting him to say. 

“You paint?”

He hums in answer. I rest my chin on his chest and look up at him. “What do you paint?”

He looks down at me, his jaw ticking. “I’ll show you sometime,” is all he says. 

I don’t try my luck by pressing him further. 

“Have you always liked painting?”

He shakes his head. “It’s something I took up after my captivity here began. To fill the time.”

“That makes sense,” I say, wincing at how awkward and formal the conversation is. “Do you think you’ll continue to paint when you’re free?”

He runs his fingertips lightly up my back. “Perhaps.”

We fall silent, and it’s not long before his breathing evens out. As I continue running my fingers over his chest, I can’t help wondering what he’s painting that he’s so hesitant to show me.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated. :)


End file.
